Fallen Gold
by paper-fl0wers
Summary: Our golden haired angel has fallen when, after breaking a law, the Clave removes Jace of his runes and abilities. He tries to see past the glamours and one day meets a redhead who can. Meanwhile, Idris is being taken over by a villian you're familiar with
1. Prologue: A Clean Slate

**Important A/N: I have several ideas for MI fanfiction, and this one just couldn't wait. I've only read the series through once and I don't have the books on me so please excuse any inaccuracies. In this first chapter, Jace is stripped of his runes. I know for a fact he mentions that can happen but I don't remember if he mentions_ how _it can happen (as in the process one must go through to have his runes removed) so I'm just going to do my own thing with that. **

Falling Gold

_Prologue: A Clean Slate_

Jace Wayland was fifteen when his runes were removed. His first memory was pure, white hot pain. A snickering face, his wrists bound, a struggle to escape his prison. God knows Jace had fought every step of the way. He'd fought even before the trial, even before the decision was made, even after the Lightwoods had told him to just give up, even after they had tried to say goodbye (Isabelle weeping miserably) to him but he wouldn't allow it. He'd refused to believe it was the last time they'd ever see each other.

Everyone knew Jace Wayland never gave up. He fought as they stripped him of his runes, of everything that made up who he was and what his purpose was. He had struggled, writhing and screaming. He hated that he had been screaming, that they could tell by his screams and the way his eyes were screwed shut and the way his jaw clenched that he was in pain. Lightning fast, white, hot pain. Sweat gushed out of every pore, soaking his shirt to his chest. His golden hair straight and sticking to his forehead. Blood dripping from his lip as he bit into it, hard. The throbbing on the back of his head was an attempt to knock him out and get him to stop fighting, stop struggling. Jace had spent the entire time trying to remember what exactly that throbbing in his head was from. Within all the fighting, the screaming, the white hot pain, he'd forgotten.

Then his shirt was stripped from him. His chest, marked with runes, open and vulnerable. He watched as they stripped from his chest and arms who he was, as they took away anything that ever meant something to him until he was nothing more than a hollow shell of a human being.

Here is where his memory went fuzzy. The trauma was unbearable and Jace couldn't remember what had happened after who he was was removed. Next thing Jace knew he was on the streets of Brooklyn at night, on a snowy winter day. Then came his second memory, the recollection of feeling nothing. He was numb. Numb from the cold, the snowflakes in his blonde hair sparkling like white gold. Moreover, he was numb from the pain of what had just happened. In fact, if one had asked Jace why he was wondering aimlessly around Brooklyn in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold, and without a shirt, he would tell them he didn't have a clue. He would only be able to tell them that whatever had happened had been awful and he would never want to experience it ever again...whatever it was.

Unsure of where he was, Jace huddled up on a bench. He hugged his knees to his bare chest and rubbed his hands together furiously. _Whatever had happened, was I really too stupid to grab a shirt? _He thought bitterly. He looked at his chest again...and then screamed bloody murder. The scream tore through his throat like razor sharp fangs. He leaped off the bench and began to run. Where? He didn't know, but he was running.

Jace's body had once been a canvas, marked with inky runes that were the key to destroying Downworlders. His body was a work of art, reminiscent of his accomplishments. Now he was no one. He was nothing. He was just...there.

Jace screamed again, but he didn't stop running. The cold wind bit at him and blurred his eyes with tears. Running so fast, he slammed into someone waiting at a bus stop.

"Watch where you're going, kid!" snapped the woman. Jace had so much energy behind him that he fell to the ground upon impact, scraping his hands on the cement and wincing as his bare chest smacked into the snowy concrete. Jace moaned and struggled into a sitting position.

"My God! What happened to _you?" _cried the woman incredulously. She was probably in her late thirties, with straight blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a thick red coat, a scarf wrapped snugly around her neck, red gloves, and a striped beanie.

Jace didn't say anything. He just rubbed his hands against his ripped jeans.

"Hey, kid, you drunk or something?" she said, observing his bare chest and hazed expression.

Jace swallowed and shakily got to his feet. He tried to say something, but could get no words out. It was a good thing he was so out of it, or he might have picked up on a trace of pity showing in her eyes.

"I thought I heard someone screaming down the block...and was hoping the bus would come before some lunatic with a knife tried to rob me. Better it's some drunk kid than a lunatic," the woman added, almost to herself, with a shrug.

"I'm not drunk," Jace finally whispered, and was surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded.

"Where you from?"

"Nowhere." It wasn't as if Jace could explain what had happened to him to a _mundane_.

"Where you heading?"

"Does it really look like I have any objectives to you, lady?" Good, sarcasm. Maybe Jace was getting his head straight after all if he was using sarcasm.

"Don't you have parents...or a parole officer, who are wondering where you are?"

"I don't have any parents and my parole officer is on vacation."

"So you're just walking around the streets at night?...Oh, I'm sorry!" the woman suddenly exclaimed when she saw Jace shivering furiously. She removed her coat. "You must be frostbitten by now. Take my coat, kid."

Jace scowled, probably more harshly than she deserved. "I don't need your damn charity."

"Uh, _yes _you do."

"First of all, that's a woman's coat. There's no way-" Jace stopped when she chucked her coat at him. He caught it.

"Nice reflexes," she said as she unzipped a black hoodie. "Here. It's probably too feminine for your macho taste, but it is black. Besides nobody wants to look at you running around half naked."

Jace reluctantly took the hoodie. "I bet I can find a large number of people who strongly object to that statement."

"You're a little smart ass, aren't you, kid?"

"I'm not_ little,_" Jace argued bitterly as he zipped up the hoodie. Instantly he felt better. "And don't call me kid."

"What's your name then? You do at least have a name, don't you?"

"I'm Jace."

"That's an odd name."

"Well, I didn't get to pick it myself so if you don't like it get over it."

"Hold on, kid," she said, apparently not hearing his previous comment. "Just because it's odd doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, I like it..._Jace_...it rolls off the tongue nicely."

Jace rolled his eyes. This woman was really beginning to make his temper rise.

"I'm Kristy."

"I don't care. I have to go." Jace removed her jacket, instantly sending chills through is chest, and handed it to Kristy.

"Go where?"

"Away from you," Jace snapped before turning around and walking away.

"Jace! Wait!" Jace turned to face Kristy again. "You have no parents and your parole officer is away. So I can assume you have no place to sleep tonight?"

Jace felt the bile rise in his throat along with the disgust he felt over the charity offering that was inevitably arriving. "Park bench is fine with me. Cozy, even. I like it firm, it's more supportive that way."

"Please, Jace, I know you're too bad ass for this but my motherly instincts tell me there's no way I can leave a ki-_teenager_- on the streets at night. Just let me take you home for the night. If not for your own sake than do me this favor for my conscious?"

"I don't need help and I don't do favors for others," Jace said, but at the same time he was wondering whether he'd freeze to death or starve to death first.

The bus pulled up, squealing to a stop. Kristy looked at him helplessly.

_I suppose I could stay with this crazy lady for just one night...but then what? _His first night as a mundane, and Jace had already contemplated numerous forms of suicide. That's when, he realized, that if he gave up then he wasn't himself anymore. But could he truly be himself without the runes, with his body an empty canvas?

_A clean slate. _Jace thought suddenly. He had an epiphany then and there. His body was empty, but that didn't have to last. There _had_ to be a way to start over, to draw the runes back onto his body. But if his runes were gone than so were his eyes. Everything was gone. The glamours were all he could see now. No demons, nothing.

But if he could focus hard enough maybe one day he'll make it back. He'll be able to see past the glamours again and make his way back into the Shadowhunter world. After all, everyone in the Shadowhunter world knew he was unusually good for his age. Who's to say his potential ended there?

"Don't think about it. Just come!" Kristy's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

_You just wait and see you senseless bums on the Clave! I'm going to work my way up again. I have my whole life to find my way back. _With newfound determination and motivation, Jace said, "I'm coming."

**A/N: I know there's not a lot of background information but this idea has been dancing around in my head for a while now and I honestly have no background information. Lol. I wasn't going to write this until I had it all mapped out but I just had to type this up tonight. I promise I'll be working on this and the history behind what happened to Jace will be revealed in time. Until then_ please _review because this is my first MI story!**


	2. Chapter 1: Breaking Down the Walls

**A/N: First of all the title of this story is "Fallen Gold" even though the first chapter has the title listed as "Falling Gold". I changed it after I submitted the chapter. Secondly, thanks to the people who reviewed. In response to Nina: Yes, Clary will be in this story but not right away. Lastly, I have worked out all the background information, so now we actually have a story. It will be revealed in bits and pieces as opposed to shoving it down your throat all at once. _Important: _the history of Jace and Valentine is different. He is still not his real son but him faking his own death and other situations are very different. **

Fallen Gold

Chapter 1: Breaking Down the Walls

_"Because these things will change. Can you feel it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down. It's the revolution. The time will come for us to finally win.__" -Taylor Swift_

"Cold, cold, cold," Kristy muttered under her breath as the apartment door swung open. Jace awkwardly stepped in. The apartment was a little worn, but in a comfortable, friendly, way. It was fairly cluttered with posters of mundane bands on the walls and magazines scattered about. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Kristy said, impersonating a deep male announcer's voice, "it is currently negative sixty degrees out and still dropping!" She swiftly removed her shoes and shook the snow out of her yellow hair. Jace would've been amused if the circumstances were different. This woman might as well be a teenager!

"You've got some energy," Jace said.

Kristy stepped into the tiny kitchen and poured water into a kettle. "Thanks. Well, come in and sit down! Don't just stand there like an idiot."

Jace uncomfortably shuffled into the kitchen and sat down. _This can't be happening to me. _Jace thought as he stared at the salt and pepper shakers that were little cats with pink fur. The male had a blue collar and the female a pink collar and bow. Jace thought of Church and felt a pang of loneliness.

"How long have you been stuck on the streets for?" Kristy asked.

On the bus ride here Jace had come up with a believable story. If Kristy could believe Jace truly had nowhere to go, she'd let him live here until he could figure out a way back into the Shadowhunter world, which _would_ happen. Jace knew. It was the only thing keeping him from having a meltdown. He wasn't even really that upset. He was more numb than anything. "Five years I think."

Kristy gasped. "You poor thing!"

"I used to live in Manhattan with my parents but there was a fire in the apartment we lived in. They both died. I didn't want them to put me in an orphanage or with some weird couple I didn't know so I ran away, letting them think I was dead."

"That's a horrible story, Jace," Kristy whispered. _Not as horrible as the truth. _

Kristy poured tea into a mug and handed it to Jace. He muttered a cold thank you.

"I'm so sorry," she added.

Jace downed the tea quickly, yearning for the warmth to spread through his body. Thankfully it did. Jace didn't even care that his tongue was now thoroughly burned.

"Let me get you something," Kristy said and left the kitchen.

Jace observed the mug. It was pink with black text that read, _I find me fascinating_. Kristy returned with a plain black sweater. "I probably should've given you this sooner, but here. It was my boyfriend's. He wasn't much bigger than you. Don't worry. We broke up last year so he probably isn't coming back for it."

The sweater was only a little big on Jace. "Is he the father of your children?"

Kristy froze, the energy she gave off suddenly sucked out of the room. "I have no children," she said slowly, evenly.

Jace should've known that he was the only one who still be a complete jerk to someone even while he was attempting to be nice. "I thought at the bus stop...you said something about motherly instincts. I'm sorry."

Kristy shook her head slowly, her chocolate eyes darker than normal. "I know I said that. It's not your fault. I _want_ children. I just have none."

Jace knew the conversation was done, even if he did have questions. He rubbed at his eyes wearily.

"You tired, kid?"

For once, being called a kid didn't irritate Jace. He simply nodded.

"You can sleep on the couch. I have extra pillows and blankets."

Jace settled into the couch, which was quite comfortable, and dreamed. He wondered how soon it would be until he saw Alec again, or smelled Isabelle's cooking, or scratched Church behind the ear. Surely he could negotiate a compromise with the Clave that would allow him to join the Shadowhunters again. Jace had never considered himself a lucky person. Now that everything was gone, he realized how much he had. He wouldn't have traded the Lightwoods or his home at the Institute for anything, but he didn't have to. It was taken by force and it was gone. All gone. He was going to get it back though. The gears in his mind were already turning, plotting a plan.

* * *

When Jace was ten his father came into his room- on a random date that Jace couldn't recall- handed him a suitcase, and told him to pack his things and leave.

"But where are we going, Father?" Jace had asked.

Valentine had looked down at Jace, eyes blazing harsh. "I am not going anywhere," he said, not with contrite, "but you, my son, are leaving Idris."

Jace's eyes widened, the gold in them like a weakened sunlight. "What do you mean?"

Valentine folded his arms across his massive chest. "I'm sorry, but you have failed me. You are much too innocent, too pure, to be the warrior I want you to be." He shook his head in disgust. "I have no use for you anymore so I am sending you to an Institute in New York. That's a state in the U.S. Perhaps the family there will find your compassionate nature less futile than I do." Valentine, who everyone thought was Michael Wayland, contacted the Lightwoods, explaining that he needed them to look after Jonathon because he was living too dangerous a life to take care of his son on his own, without his wife.

Valentine put his broad hands on Jace's shoulders. He winced at the coldness in his touch. "Know that I am placing you in a home with people I know will love and protect you."

"Will you come and visit?"

Valentine scowled and Jace, suddenly ashamed, realized that was exactly the kind of thing he was talking about. "No. I cannot," he said, again without contrite. He placed his hand under Jace's chin and roughly lifted it so that he was looking him in the eyes. "Goodbye, my son. My Jonathon."

His first morning at the Institute, his first morning away from home, Jace had awakened to the aroma of breakfast. The Lightwoods had prepared a large banquet (thankfully Isabelle was too young to cook at the time) in honor of their new resident. As Jace conversed with Alec and enjoyed a feast of pancakes, french toast, eggs, and muffins, his fear and loneliness temporarily went away. Whenever Jace's past came to haunt him or he remembered how he felt when he'd failed his father, all he had to do was turn to his new family.

When Jace awakened in Kristy's apartment, his first morning away from his second home, for some reason he expected to smell that memorable first banquet. Instead he smelled perfume and freshly brewed coffee. Jace stretched, yawned, and stepped into the kitchen. Kristy was pouring coffee and humming _Taking Care of Business_, though the former Shadowhunter did not recognize the tune. Her hair was tied into a bun and she wore a long black skirt. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"You've got the beauty part right."

"You're so wonderfully humble. Hungry?"

"Starved."

"Breakfast is on the table."

Jace glanced at the table. "Pop-tarts?"

"I was going to give you my favorite flavor, hot fudge sundae, but I only had one left so you'll just have to settle with strawberry."

"I'd expect nothing less from a six-year-old trapped inside an adult woman's body."

"I will think of a witty and sarcastic retort at work and have something for you by the time I get home."

Jace sat down and consumed his meal in record time. "Where do you work?"

"I'm an editor for _Vogue _magazine. I'm obviously busy today but tomorrow we'll go shopping and I'll buy you some decent clothes."

"I don't need you to _clothe_ me," Jace said. It wasn't worth fighting though. If all went according to plan Jace would be back at the Institute by tonight. He hated to just walk out on Kristy after she had been so generous to him, but he had no choice.

"There's money and a spare set of keys on the counter and feel free to browse through my CD collection or eat out of my fridge. Just _don't_ go through my closet, though I doubt you'd care to."

"You can _leave _now," Jace said sharply.

Kristy started to leave, but then turned and said, "Jace?"

"What?"

"I know it has probably been a while, but have you considered going back to school?"

Jace almost laughed. _Sure. I'll just throw on a blazer, buy a calculator, and spend the next three years in a classroom. _That's _what I want to do with my life._

"My aunt- she doesn't know I'm alive- but I'm planning to go see her. She lives on Long Island and I'm hoping to stay with her and enroll in school then."_A scarily good impromptu lie. _But when Jace looked at Kristy's skeptical expression, he realized how weak his lie actually was. Why would he have lived on the streets for five years rather than go to his aunt's?

"Well...we'll talk about that when I get home."

"Nice knowing ya," Jace said aloud once she was gone. He went to sit on the carpet in the middle of the living room to meditate, just as his father had taught him how. He inhaled deeply, clearing his mind of everything but the things that meant most to him. He pictured the runes that once marked his body. The removal of them had left strange scars in criss-crossed patterns. Kristy had asked him about it last night before he went to sleep and he said he'd been in a gang..._Stop. _Jace told himself and went back to focusing on the runes.

Then he thought of the Institute, of Alec, Isabelle, Max, Hodge, Robert, Hugo, Maryse, and Church. He thought of his stele and the library and demons. He kept all these mental images in his head. Jace figured if he could really _see_ these things in his head then maybe he could see past the glamours. Then he'd work out a way to convince the Clave to give him the Sight back. He'd remind them what a good Shadowhunter Jace was, before that fatal mistake he'd made. The Lightwoods were forbidden to see Jace, but surely they'd stick by him in this situation. Then the Clave could see differently.

Ok, so it wasn't a _good_ idea, but Jace didn't have any better ones.

That evening, with nothing but what mattered on his mind, Jace used the money Kristy left to travel to the Institute by train. Standing in front of it, Jace could only see an old abandoned church, the yellow police tape surrounding it. Jace squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He created the perfect mental picture of his home and then opened his eyes...

Nothing.

Jace tried again, and again, and again...

Nothing.

Before he knew it Jace had spent over an hour trying to remove the glamour from his eyes. He still saw nothing. It was as if his old life never even existed. Deep, deep down Jace had known that this plan had a very small percentage of working, but it was the best he could come up with. What could he possibly do if he couldn't see anything?

Jace picked up a stone and chucked it at the building as hard as he could. He picked up three more and threw them. The snow was swirling with the wind now, partly blinding him.

_"Alec! Alec, it's me! Izzy, come out!" _Jace screamed, but it was useless. They couldn't hear him, and they were forbidden to see him or talk to him under penalty of suffering the same fate he had. Jace pulled at his hair, and then took another deep breath. It was his first attempt. He'd just have to come back tomorrow. One day it would work. Jace never lost faith in that.

Jace arrived back at the apartment, but Kristy still wasn't home. He decided to browse through her CD collection. He wasn't very familiar with mundane bands. Some of them he'd heard of. She had CDs of bands he'd recognized like _The Clash_, _U2_, and _The Offspring_. Others he'd never heard of like _Ludo_, _Three Days Grace_, and _Third Eye Blind_. Jace turned on the radio and inserted _Third Eye Blind_. Jace had been to clubs to track down demons and had heard mundane music. Being brought up listening to strictly classical music, Jace had always wanted to listen to modern mundane music._ Not too bad. _Jace thought, slightly amused.

The door opened and Kristy was back. "How was your day?" she asked.

"Fine," Jace lied.

"You spent the money," she observed.

"You told me I could," Jace pointed out.

"I know. I'm not mad. What did you spend it on?"

"Food. I went out to eat."

"Oh. Well, I brought home a pizza."

Jace sat and ate in silence. For the first time since he came here last night, he was facing the thought that he'd have to live here for a while. He wondered how long he'd be stuck here.

"I mentioned it might be a good idea for you to go to school this morning, remember? I think maybe we should talk about that again."

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"As heart warming as returning you to your long-lost aunt sounds, I know you were lying to me. I'm not that stupid."

"I wasn't lying."

"Bull!"

Jace immediately shifted gears. "You can't send me to school!" he cried, feigning fear.

"Why?"

"Well, It's assumed that I'm dead and you have no record of ever having children so what will they say when you try to send me to school? They'll place me in foster care, which is what I've spent my whole life trying to escape, and nobody will want to adopt me. So I'll spend the next three years being bumped from home to home until I'm eighteen and then they'll kick me out of the system! _Please_, don't make me go into foster care!" Jace begged. He was pretending to be this desperate, weak little kid, and he loathed it. He was out of options though.

Kristy looked at him sadly. "Jace, was living on the street for five years really worth avoiding foster care? Being bumped from home to home can't be nearly as bad as having no home at all."

"My father was a foster child. He said it was the worst years of his life. He would get attached and then have to leave. He said he met kids who came from abusive foster homes. Some foster kids are in it for the money, they don't care about the kids. They would beat them." Jace couldn't believe the way these lies just rolled off his tongue. He knew all about foster care-Valentine even considered it before settling with the Lightwoods- but it still shocked him. He looked at Kristy with wide eyes. "Please, don't try to send me to school. You have no legal rights over me. They'll take me away."

"But you won't have a future. What are you going to do with the rest of your life? How will you make money? How will you live?"

"I'll get a job. When I turn sixteen I'll get a job and figure it out from there. Just please don't-"

"I won't. I won't," Kristy assured him.

"Thank you," Jace whispered.

After dinner that evening Kristy went into her room to work on her magazine article some more while Jace sat in the living room. She allowed him to use the television. Instead Jace bowed his head and attempted to pray to a God he never believed in. He apologized for never believing in Him, and begged for forgiveness. He asked God to bring him back to his home, to his family. If He did, Jace promised to pray every night and go to church. He promised to appreciate what he had in life and never feel as if life had cheated him again. Jace had forgotten the prayers his father had taught him. He recited what he could, which was very little, and then asked for guidance one last time.

_"Amen."_

**A/N: Review. **


	3. Chapter 2: Regret

**A/N: This chapter is long. ****I had to edit it a lot because when it was first written I felt Jace was very OOC. Hopefully I did his character justice.**

Fallen Gold

Chapter 2: Regret

_"It's gonna kill me the rest of my life. Let me apologize while I'm still alive. I know it's hard to face all of my past mistakes. I've got to live with them the rest of my life." - Less Than Jake  
_

Jace learned something new about himself that afternoon. He was a miserable shopper. So when Kristy told him to pick out whatever he liked he went for clothes that looked as much like his old clothing as possible and they were done within an hour. Though the clothes he picked were all hideous. Even the best of mundane style was ugly.

"I think the clothes you picked out look good on you," Kristy said. She flipped through the radio. When the opening to _Hey Jude_ came on she turned the volume up and started humming along.

"Everything looks good on me."

"Good to know," Kristy said with a roll of her eyes. "So what are you doing today?"

Jace leaned his head back against the seat. He changed the radio station. Not because he didn't like the song (he actually did) but because when he was upset he did his best to annoy her. And these days Jace was always unhappy. "Small talk is the biggest waste of energy ever."

"In other words, you're doing absolutely nothing today. Again." When Jace had an attitude, Kristy was never afraid to retort.

"In other words I'm doing my best to avoid interaction with you today."

"You're not doing a very good job considering we're in the car together."

"That's why I plan on jumping out soon."

"Good riddance," Kristy mumbled.

"Right back at you." Then after a while, "I want to pay you back for the clothes."

"That's the third time you told me that. You don't have to-"

"Each time I've told you you've insisted I don't have and that's why I keep having to tell you again," Jace said with the air of a teacher telling a student what she did wrong.

"But you don't owe me! I don't mind doing this. I really don't. I'm happy to help."

"Well don't. I don't need your help. I don't want your help." He wasn't going to be in debt to a_ mundane_. _Does it really matter anymore? I mean you are a mundane yourself now, _a tiny voice in his head said. Jace ignored it.

"So you didn't need new clothes? I know you love the way you look without a shirt on but not everyone agrees."

"That small group includes straight men, and even within that group I turn heads."

"Look just wear the clothes and it's done with, ok? I don't want you to feel like you have to return the favor."

Jace folded his arms behind his head and stared at her with a defensive expression. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm not doing this because I have no other way of reciprocating all the charity you've deemed to bestow upon me. I'm doing this because there's no way I'm going to let you think you're superior to me just because you can buy me stuff."

"But I obviously _don't_ think that!" Kristy snapped, now frustrated. "Are you really so difficult that you can't accept a favor without pissing the giver off? Haven't you ever heard of the expression don't bite the hand that feeds you?"

Jace grinned, his eyes bright with pleasure. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you? Sounds to me like, on some level, you subconsciously _do_ think you're better than me."

Kristy felt as if she'd just fallen into a hole Jace had dug. "What? No! I-I don't," she stuttered angrily.

"Did you not just tell me that if I don't stop annoying you, you will no longer decide I'm worth doing favors for?"

_"God," _Kristy said fiercely, "you're going to make me crash this car!"

Jace shrugged. "Can't be helped. I won't hold it against you though. It's human nature, so it's nothing personal. I mean that in two ways. I know you don't mean to feel this way about me so I won't have any personal animosity toward you."

"Jace, don't talk anymore," she said thinly.

_Whatever you say,_ mundane. "Got nothing else to say."

"You know I have have an extra room in the apartment. We can put your clothes in there. I can get you a bed," Kristy said once they returned.

"Sure," Jace said, though he didn't really mind sleeping on the couch all that much. "That was going to be your workout room, wasn't it?"

Kristy frowned, and at first Jace thought he'd offended her. She was slender, but these days girls were hardly ever comfortable with their bodies. Jace supposed living with a girl like Isabelle made him forget that.

"Well, no. Actually that was going to be my baby's room."

"Oh."

"My husband and I probably starting decorating too early. We had wallpaper and a crib and toys. Don't worry I took all that out after we split up. It's just an empty room now."

"How long were you married for?" he asked.

"Six years, maybe seven. He wanted it to end it more so than I did. I didn't blame him though. More than anything Richard wanted to have children."

_"But so do you," _Jace wanted to say.

"I must be confusing you now," Kristy said with a sad smile. "You see, I can't have a baby. I tried everything, but I can't. After my fifth miscarriage, I stopped trying. It hurt too much."

_Five _miscarriages? "You guys never tried to adopt?"

"He didn't want to adopt, and I wasn't crazy about the idea either. He wanted to have children the traditional way, you know? See who the kid looks like more, see who the kid takes after, knowing that you created that child. We tried to keep it together after we came to accept the fact that we just weren't going to be parents, but it just didn't last very long. I haven't seen Richard in years. I thought about adopting a child and just being a single parent. I ran into many problems though. It was expensive, I usually wasn't qualified in one way or another, and I think the biggest problem was that my heart just wasn't in it."

"I see," was all Jace said.

Kristy shook her head, as if chasing away the bad memories. "Come on. Let's move your clothes into the room."

* * *

A month went by and Jace wasn't anywhere near adjusting to his new life. Jace was frustrated feeling like nothing more than a futile mundane. This lifestyle was just so _useless._ Mundanes didn't do anything besides sit around and watch a box with moving pictures on it for three hours a day and go to work for the rest of the time. And for what? _Money. _Jace knew mundanes were obsessed with money, but Kristy's work hours showed it to the extreme extent. It disgusted him.

Other things about mundanes drove him crazy. They had way too much free time on their hands. They were so vain, focusing on the way they looked all the time. Kids his age didn't do anything but pass out after consuming a lot of alchohil. What was so much fun about that? They were so vulnerable, yet many of them were careless. They wasted a lot of hours keeping their houses clean, having stupid conversations on the phone, and going to parties.

Sometimes Jace would spend hours sitting in his room, staring at the ceiling with his face pale like a ghost that made his eyes glow eerily. Kristy was aching with the desire to know what was running through that complex mind of his but the few times she'd dared to ask he, of course, didn't tell her.

At first-thinking one day this new life would be nothing more than a bad memory, maybe even a dream- Jace had been able to handle it, but then, as he slowly forced himself to accept the fact that he might never be a Shadowhunter again, he began to shut down. Kristy began to notice it. His once lively, sarcastic personality was now drained of all energy. Despite all this Jace was at least able to keep his unstable emotions in check.

Or so he thought.

One evening something inside Jace seemed to explode. It was as if a time bomb had been planted inside his mind and he hadn't known about it until it was too late. Kristy had left for work that morning as always and told him she'd be returning home only to change clothes. She had a date that evening.

That evening Jace was watching TV on the couch. The door burst open and Kristy came racing in, already kicking off her heels. "I'm late!" she cried. She shut the door and removed her shirt.

"What the hell!" Jace cried, covering his eyes.

"Sorry! I'm really late though. I have to be there in five minutes!" Jace saw through his fingers that Kristy had turned around so he removed his hand from his eyes. Then he saw on Kristy's shoulder blade, a large tattoo. It was a tattoo of a shooting star.

Jace felt very dizzy and his stomach churned painfully. "Y-you have a tattoo."

Kristy slid into a lacy pink shirt. Once clothed, she turned to face him. "What? Oh, yeah. I know a shooting star isn't very original but I just had to have the design. It's gorgeous." She yanked her ponytail out and reached for her brush on the side table next to the phone.

Jace swallowed heavily, feeling so sick he thought he was going to throw up.

"Are you ok?" Kristy asked, running the brush through her yellow hair. She ran her hand through it and admired the silky texture.

Jace leaped off the couch, rushed to the bathroom, and really _did_ throw up. He got down on his knees, clenching the sides of the toilet until his fingers ached, flung his head over the toilet, and vomited. When he thought he was finished, he crawled over to the door and locked it. He crawled right back to the toilet when he felt his stomach churn again. He thrust his head over the toilet, retching miserably. His knees were dug into the marble floor.

Jace leaned his forehead against the toilet when he really was done. The rim was cold and sent shivers through him, despite the thin sheet of sweat that covered his body. He pushed his golden hair, the edges of it covered in vomit, out of his eyes. Jace realized he was panting, yearning to catch his breath. The entire time he desperately tried not to think of the tattoo on Kristy's shoulder blade.

There was a gentle knocking on the door. "Jace? Jace, are you sick?" Kristy tried the doorknob. There was a nervous edge to her voice.

For all that was going on, it amazed Jace that he was able to keep any emotion out of his voice. "Physically? No. Of you? Yes." Kristy reminded him of Kristy's tattoo and Kristy's tattoo reminded him of everything else.

She tried the door again. "Jace, let me in. I want to help you. Should I call a doctor?"

"I'm _not _sick." At least not physically. Mentally Jace thought his brain was going to melt.

Kristy paused, taken aback by his fury. "What's wrong, Jace? Let me help you."

Jace laughed without mirth, and it sent chills down Kristy's spine. "Like you could really help me." Then he muttered _"mundane"_ to himself furiously.

"What did you say?" She tried the doorknob once more.

"Just go on your date," Jace snapped, finally losing his cool. "AND I HAVEN'T MOVED SINCE YOU TRIED OPENING THE DOOR THE FIRST TIME!"

"You're not making _any_ sense!" Kristy shouted.

"Just go away."

"Look, kid, I'm the one who gave you a place to stay so that you didn't have to live on the streets like a damn rat! The least you could do is stop being a jerk and _open the freaking door!_"

Jace laughed that same laugh that had frightened Kristy. This time it frightened her even more. "You think _that's_ what you were doing? Opening up your home to some poor helpless kid out of the goodness of your heart? Like I couldn't handle things on my own after what I've been through. And anyway if you really cared about my well being you would've sent me to school like a normal kid! You would've placed me in a foster home, but you didn't. And don't you think I know why? You think that because I ran into you that day that you were _meant _to take care of me! You think this is like God's gift to you or something stupid like that!"

Jace couldn't see it but Kristy's jaw clenched. "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!"

"Don't I know it!" Jace could've stopped then and there. He'd wanted to hurt Kristy for hurting him, and he had. The satisfaction of hurting her was there. Mission accomplished. But Jace didn't stop. "Look, taking care of me isn't going to make you feel any better about having a million miscarriages!"

_"You little bastard!" _Kristy shrieked, furiously pounding on the door. Jace jumped. For a second he swore she would've knocked the door down. _"You bastard!" _she shouted, pounding the door again. Jace hugged his knees to his chest, stunned. He'd just insulted a woman for not being able to have children and taking him in instead...

He heard a muffled sob from the other side of the door and then her footsteps walking away. Jace didn't move from that position. He just sat there, drowing in his own self loathing. He longed to see Maryse again. She was cold and stern at times, but she'd be able to fix this. Or maybe Alec. They'd always saved Jace when he was stupid enough to get himself tangled in a mess.

He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there for, but he was getting restless and the smell of vomit was starting to make his nose wrinkle. Jace stood up, flushed the toilet, and looked at himself in the mirror. He blinked several times, as if trying to make the person looking back at him vanish, but it really was him.

His hair was a tangled mess of vomit and sweat and his eyes looked like liquid and was the color of maple syrup. But what shocked Jace the most was how much thinner he'd gotten. He knew he hadn't been able to eat much since he'd become a mundane but he was significantly thinner now. His cheek bones and jaw line, once finely defined, were sharp and pointed. Beneath his eyes the skin was thin a dark.

Unable to stand the sight, Jace decided to shower. He made the water as cold as he possibly could as a punishment for his words and scrubbed his hair furiously to clean it. When he was finished he changed into a new pair of clothes and went into the living room where Kristy was.

She didn't look as if she had been crying all that much. Instead she just looked shocked. Her eyes were wide and her lips slightly parted. Jace sat on the couch next to her. She didn't even look at him. Finally, Jace inhaled shakily and said, "My mother had a tattoo on her shoulder blade too. Seeing it just..." Jace didn't know how to finish. "I'm sorry."

"You were wrong," she said numbly. She wasn't looking at him. "I didn't keep you here for me. I kept you here because you told me it was your worst fear to be put into a foster home. My worst fear was being unable to carry children, and I can't. I didn't want you to have to suffer from you worst fear as well, or was that just another lie? I know you've been lying to me, Jace. I just don't know what about. Every time I ask you about your parents or your childhood you become very vague. I'm not sure what you're trying to hide, but I never said anything because I figured it wasn't my business."

"I was just mad." She still didn't look at him. "I can leave if you want," Jace said without emotion.

"No, stay," Kristy said after a minute of silence.

"Why do you keep insisting on having me here?" Jace blurted before he could stop himself. The concept completely baffled him. He'd done nothing but hurt her and insult her since he'd moved in and never once had Kristy even threatened him to leave.

She stared at him, her chocolate eyes hard and steady and her expression stoic. "What do you think will happen if I don't? Either you'll end up on the street again or you'll be placed in a home. No one will be able to handle your rotten attitude and you'll just bump from home to home. At least here you have some form of stability." Her voice also had no emotion in it.

_But why do you care about all that?_

She stood up then. "I have to make a phone call and figure out an explanation for my date."

She left, without asking him why he had gotten sick in the first place, and Jace sat there, unable to do anything.

* * *

In time, Jace earned Kristy's forgiveness. It took a while. For a few days they hardly said a word to each other. The silence was beginning to drive Jace crazy. Slowly though, she began speaking to him again. Within a week they were able to put it behind them, but not without a rift in their relationship. Jace never asked Kristy about her being infertile ever again and she never asked him about his childhood. They'd made an unspoken agreement not to talk about it, and of course, neither ever mentioned the fight they'd had.

Jace knew that, until the day he died, this would just be another memory he'd suffer from. He'd never forgive himself, even if Kristy had. He didn't deserve forgiveness for that.

It was the middle of February when Jace had first met Kristy, cold and disoriented on the streets. The months went by and the heat of summer was finally here. Teenagers were on the streets more often now that their classes were over. Jacehad turned sixteen within these months, remembering those special birthdays in Idris. The day his father had thrown him out, he'd been sick with shame, but the shame of the Clave's sentence made that day seem like nothing more than a mildly embarrassing moment.

At night sometimes Jace went to clubs just because it reminded him of demon hunting. Demons loved to lurk around night clubs. One evening he was sitting at Pandemonium and watching strange people dance and drink when it happened. A short, pretty, girl with red hair came racing across the dance floor, curls bouncing behind her. She looked horrified and ran with great haste, like she couldn't reach her destination fast enough. She went over to her friend, a dark haired boy with glasses.

"Help, quick! Call the police!" she cried. "Someone is being _murdered_ in the supply closet! Do something!"

**A/N: I know the first three chapters of this story were mostly angst-ridden but I needed to develop the character of Kristy and how Jace initially dealt with being a mundane. The last thing I wanted to do was make this story too angsty, but there's no way Jace could lose his Shadowhunting abilities without suffering. This story from now on will be an action/adventure (with some angst) fic and of course the ever popular Jace/Clary romance. Now review. **


	4. Chapter 3: Taste for Danger

**A/N: This chapter has a formula very similar to _City of Bones_, but I promise it's different. I've been reading the series all week to help "research" for this story (and because the books are extremely addictive). By the way, remember how I said last chapter was long? Well, this one is even longer which I guess is good for you all. **

Fallen Gold

Chapter 3: Taste for Danger

_"Cause you've got a taste for danger. It turns you on. Just take a look at your face. I know what's going on. You like the taste of danger." -Third Eye Blind_

_It was getting late and Kristy would be wondering where he was, but Jace felt frozen. Times Square at night was rather impressive, the lights winking at him in every direction. The traffic was speeding by. Jace wondered what would happen if he ran in front of one of those cars. Would it brake in time? Would it come to a screeching halt right before hitting him like in those mundane movies where every incident has an ideal outcome?_

_Everything was gone. He was the shell of a human now. Jace wished it would end. He wanted it to end. All he had to do was take a few steps forward...but he couldn't. Jace was, embarrassingly enough, afraid to. What frightened him more though? The idea of death itself, or if he was hit and lived with a physical or mental disability?_

_When Jace got home Kristy was still out working. He sat on the couch, grimaced at the idea of watching TV yet again, and then went into the bathroom. He opened the door, which had a mirror attached to it, and inside he found a line up of medicines and cosmetics. _

_In the back he found a bottle of outdated sleeping pills prescribed to Kristy's former husband, Richard. Jace snapped the top off and shoved a handful of pills into his mouth as fast as he could before he could think to stop himself. He turned on the sink and consumed a mouth full of water. Then he stood there, breathing through his nose, the pills floating in his mouth like fish in a bowl. _

Swallow_, he ordered himself, _swallow you miserable coward. _Jace bent his head backward and then..._

_Jace spit the pills into the toilet and flushed. So it was the fear of death that had made Jacenot jump in front of the traffic. He was a coward...or was committing suicide cowardly? Running away from your problems had to be more pathetic...but that wasn't _why _Jace hadn't done it. He hadn't done it because he was afraid to die. _

_Jace knocked down the contents of the medicine cabinet in one clean sweep. In a blind rage he lifted several items and threw them against the wall as hard as he could. A bottle burst open and pills scattered all over the white tiled floor. He threw a bottle of shampoo against the wall repeatedly, it eventually broke open. Thick pink fluid dripped across the floor, bleeding like an open wound..._I'm bleeding, _Jace thought. _Make it stop_. _

* * *

The girl stared at her friend. "Are you screwing with me or something?" he asked.

"A murder! Someone in the closet has just been _murdered! _Can you call the police, Simon? Oh! I'm so stupid to leave. They're probably getting away! I have to go back!" Clary whirled around with haste.

Simon grabbed his petite friend by the shoulders. "No, that's dangerous. I'll call the police now and you watch to see if they duck out the back door, ok?" Simon dialed the police on his cell phone and then ran outside so that he could communicate without the loud music blaring in the background. The girl apparently didn't care about what Simon said. She raced back across the dance floor toward the closet.

That was a rather big coincidence. The murder apparently occurred in the supply closet and that's where Isabelle used her beauty to lure demons. So a human homicide occurred in the closet? Then why wasn't everyone else freaking out?

_She didn't. _Jace told himself. _She didn't see a demon. _It was too good to be true. Despite this he followed her to the supply closet. He took a deep breath, telling himself to remain calm. This girl could very well just be crazy. Mundanes didn't have the sight! She was peeking through a crack in the door. Jace stood behind her and attempted to get glimpse himself.

"Hey, you," Jace said, tapping the girl on her shoulder. She jumped, curls bouncing with her, and whirled around to face him, looking up at him because she was significantly shorter. "Jumpy, aren't you? I couldn't help but overhear you telling your geeky friend over there that you witnessed a murder."

She shushed him furiously, fingers to her lips and teeth gritted. "They're right in there, but they can't see me! Somehow they seemed to have hidden the body, but there's blood all over the floor," she whispered. She moved over so that Jace could peek in.

He looked inside and saw _nothing. _Jace heard an alarm roar in his head. _This mundane can see demons! _

For some reason Jace couldn't help but flashback to the day he'd nearly swallowed those pills. Maybe this was why he hadn't killed himself. Maybe this was a sign that something amazing was about to happen.

"I don't know what to do!" the girl cried helplessly. Jace pushed past her and opened the door. "Are you _crazy!"_ she exclaimed.

"Alec, Isabelle! Are you there?" he called, eyes darting around the room wildly._ I still can't see_ anything, he thought miserably.

"Now look what you did! They're getting away!"

"What do you mean?" he asked hastily, squinting as if it would help.

She looked at him funny. "What are you, _blind?_"

"Yes, I am actually. Now what are you talking about?" Jace demanded.

She pulled on his arm and pointed to the dance floor. "They just darted out the front door! Help! Stop them!" she called, pointing to the invisible people, but no one could hear her above the roar of the music and the crowd talking.

"What'd they look like? How many of them were there?" Jace barked the questions as if they were orders.

"I don't know...two I think."

"_Two!_ A girl and a boy? How old? Was the girl really tall?"

"What? I don't know!"

_"Tell me now!" _Jace ordered fiercely.

"Oh, God! Simon's right outside the club!" She made a dash for the front door.

Jace snatched her wrist and glared at her firmly. "They don't care about him! They're not going to hurt him!"

The girl broke free. "You don't know for sure!" She started to run off again.

Jace grabbed the collar of the girl's shirt and roughly pulled her forward. She couldn't help but feel as if she was looking into the eyes of an angry lion, frightening and commanding. For a moment Clary swore he was going to hit her, and the strength in his grasp told her he was strong. She flinched. He didn't even notice. "Listen, little girl," he snarled, "I've been spending the last four months trying to see what you just saw and I don't care how badly you_ don't _want to tell me. You are going to tell me!"

Her jade eyes blazed with rage. "I am not going to tell you crap if you're going to man handle me!" She pulled away from him and slapped him across the face.

Jace, as he stumbled backward, was more surprised than in pain. He looked toward the front door to see her running out. He followed her. The girl saw Simon hanging up his phone. "You're ok!" she exclaimed with relief.

"What's going on, Clary?" he asked.

"Did you see those two boys who ran out of the club? They were the ones who killed that other boy!" she exclaimed.

"What two boys? Clary, what are you talking about?"

Behind her, Clary could hear Jace snicker. He walked over to them. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"I want you to slap my other cheek now. The balance is throwing me off." Clary could see a large red bruise on his cheek.

"I don't have time for you! I have to report this to the police."

Jace shrugged. "Sure, go ahead. Little suggestion? Check yourself in before the police have you committed."

"What are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"Well, the police aren't going to be able to see it, which makes them utterly useless, and they'll just think your fiesty friend here is crazy."

"There's blood all over the floor in the supply closet and there's no way those two guys had time to find a good hiding place for the body before they escaped!" Clary argued.

"The body's gone. Trust me, they'll never find it."

"Yes, they will! That poor boy was just hanging around the club when these two crazy kids- maybe they were drunk, but they seemed too coordinated- anyway, they pulled him into the closet and accused him of-"

"Being a demon? That was no false accusation. The kid really was a demon."

Clary's eyes widened and she gaped in horror. "Oh, my God! You're just as crazy as they were! And you want _me_ committed?"

"Clary, what's going on?" Simon asked nervously.

"You have to tell me what you saw right now, little girl. It's really important. Now you said they were two boys, right? What did they look like?"

"Clary, you don't have to tell him anything," Simon defended.

"Shut up, mundie."

"What did you say?"

"First, we need to get rid of this mundane," Jace said. "Then you need to tell me exactly what you saw-"

"Shut up for a second! My phone is ringing." Clary walked away from Simon and Jace. The two boys stared at each other. Simon asked, "Why did you call me mundane?"

"Hello," Clary answered her phone.

"Clary!" It was Luke, and she could hear the relief in his voice. "Listen to me very carefully. _Don't_ go home, Clary. Come to my house right now. By the time you get here I won't be home. Don't worry about me though."

"What's wrong?" Clary demanded. "Is my mother ok?"

Luke paused. The silence agonzied Clary. "Whatever you do, Clary, don't go home. I have to go. There's no time to waste." He hung up.

Clary dialed home as fast as possible. The answering machine picked up. "Mom! Mom, are you home?" Clary cried. For a moment she heard nothing then she heard the phone being picked up.

_"Clary!" _she heard her mother scream so suddenly that she jumped.

Her blood turned icy when she heard what could only be assumed as the cry of a strange animal. She then heard her mother scream. _"Mom!" _Clary shouted, but she was disconnected. For a few seconds, she could only stand there, shell shocked. Then she broke free.

She ran back to Simon and Jace. "Simon!" she cried. "Something has happened to my mother! _Something_ is in my house and I think Luke might know about it!"

"What do you mean something?" asked Simon.

"I don't know! I heard like an animal or-"

"A demon?" Jace finished, eyebrows raised.

Clary blinked. She felt completely dumbfounded.

"When the police get here we'll direct them to your apartment. They should be here any second," Simon said.

"How many times do I have to tell you two the police are completely useless before it gets through your thick skulls?" Then he said thoughtfully, "You know, I've been watching a lot of mundane movies lately and unless the movie is about a police officer, the police are always completely and utterly useless. If they weren't, then the movie's story would be ruined. I want you two to kind of look at this situation in that sense." Jace turned to Clary. "Clary, right? Look, Clary, if you want any chance of saving your mother you'll do exactly as I say, got it?"

She opened her mouth to argue, but knew her mother's life was worth too much to waste time doing so. "Ok," Clary said desperately.

"First of all, send mundie here home," Jace jerked his thumb at Simon. "He's nothing more than a hindrance."

"Clary-" Simon began.

"Go home, Simon!" Clary exclaimed. Under any other circumstance, she would never sacrifice Simon's feelings for her own benefit. But this was her mother and her only real family.

"There must be something I can do to-"

"Hit the road, mundie," Jace said.

Simon looked to Clary for help. "For me, Simon, just get out of here!" Finally, he turned and headed home.

Jace rubbed his hands together nervously. He didn't have much time to think, but he was already forming a plan in his head. "First things first, you've go to get to the Institute. Follow me."

Clary followed Jace down the street at a sprint. He explained to Clary that the Insitute was where his friends and fellow Shadowhunters lived and gave her the address. Jace felt good, the adrenaline he'd missed so much rushing through him pleasurably. He may not be a Shadowhunter anymore but damn it felt good to be back in business!

"The Institute?" Clary asked.

"It's a home for Shadowhunters like me." Jace skidded to a stop at the corner, Clary nearly knocking into him. "Normal humans, mundanes, can't see it. Only now I can't see it either, but you'll be able to. You got money on you, don't you Clary?" he asked as he waved for a cab. It drove by, ignoring him.

She nodded, but looked miserably perplexed. "So you're a...Shadowhunter? And Shadowhunters can see this Institute and mundanes can't. Except you're a Shadowhunter and you _can't_ see the Institute and I'm a mundane but I'll be able to see the Institute. That makes no sense at all!"

"Well, I'm not so sure you're really a mundane if you could see those demons at the club. If you're not a mundane than you surely have the Sight. As for me, it's a long, complicated story." Jace waved a hand to a cab that speeded by, ignoring him.

"This isn't happening to me. This can't be happening to me!" Clary cried, desperately shaking her head.

"Don't worry. Even if you're not a mundane, once this is all over you can pretend it never happened. Then you can go back to planning your prom and shopping at the mall."

"I am not that kind of girl!" Clary snapped. Despite his rotten attitude, Clary didn't want to let Jace think of her that way.

"Listen to me. We don't have a lot of time so don't ask questions, just do. Take a cab to the Institute. I want you to tell the people there that you're a Shadowhunter, but you recently had to take a break from demon hunting due to injury. Tell them that you have an urgent emergency, that your mother is in trouble because a demon broke into your home. I would give you a key but I don't have one anymore. Just keep pounding on the door until someone answers. I'm going to head to your home in the meantime to look around. They can't know I sent you so don't tell them."

"Why not?"

Jace rolled his eyes as if she was completely incompetent for asking that question. "Because then they'll be too busy caring about me to pay attention to you and I know you don't want that. When you arrive there you might just see an old rundown church."

"I'll see a church?" Clary repeated, confused.

"That's what I see at least, but if you focus really hard _you _can see through the glamour. Just like you saw the demons at the club. Focus."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! What are glamours?"

"They're nothing of your concern if you _focus!" _Jace cried in exasperation, as if he'd already explained this to her numerous times. He waved his hand to another passing cab. This one pulled over.

"Ok, ok!" Clary cried defensively.

"I'm going to get a head start and take a cab to your place. Give me your address."

"807 Berkeley Place in Brooklyn. Do you want to write it down?"

Jace waved a dismissive hand. "Not enough time. I'll remember it." _807 Berkeley Place in Brooklyn._ He repeated the mantra in his head several times.

Clary stared at him before getting into the cab. "Are you sure you want to go to my place alone? What I heard on the phone-"

"I'm a Shadowhunter. This is what I'm trained to do, what we all are trained to do. Just worry about yourself," he said, and then gave her a shove toward the cab.

Jace waved his hand for another cab. He had no weapons in his belt or runes on his arms, but somehow he was going to fight this demon. If he _knew_ there was a demon in Clary's home, there had to be a way to see it.

He knew what Alec would've said if he knew about this. He'd tell Jace he was an idiot for jumping into danger headfirst as usual. Jace smirked, the thought made the adrenaline pump faster. After tonight he could never argue with Alec for accusing him of having an "addiction to danger" again.

* * *

Clary was shaking as the cab drove her from Pandemonium to eastern Manhattan where the Institute was located, according to Jace. She gave the driver money when he pulled to a stop.

Jace was right. All she could see was an old, abandoned church..._wait that's a bad thing, _she corrected herself. She was supposed to be seeing something else...but what? Jace hadn't exactly told her.

Clary shut her eyes tightly and focused just as he'd told her to. She opened them and still saw the worn down church with the trash littering the front and the yellow police tape surrounding it.

Clary closed her eyes once more, took a deep breath, and then opened them. Her jaw dropped when the church began to blur into a magnificent Gothic style cathedral. "I see it!" she exclaimed aloud to no one in particular. She quickly hopped up the stone steps and banged on the door. Then she noticed a large iron bellpull that hung from the architrave and pulled it several times before a gorgeous young girl, more or less Clary's age, finally answered.

"What the hell!" she exclaimed.

Alec and Isabelle Lightwood were an unusual duo, but Clary managed to talk them into helping her. It wasn't too hard, but Clary couldn't help notice that the two of them saw this as more of a business matter rather than a matter of aiding someone in desperate need of help. Was this really their job?

"Ok, Alec and I are going to suit up. Do you want any particular weapons?" Isabelle asked, already tying her hair, a thick dark mane, into a ponytail.

"...A knife?" Clary wondered how soon it would be before they knew she was not a Shadowhunter.

Alec looked at her strangely.

"Since you're still too injured to fight I'm assuming you won't want any runes drawn on you. We'll be out in just a moment," Isabelle said.

"Please, hurry! My mother!"

"We'll make it quick."

When they came out Clary couldn't hide her shocked expression. The black clothing, the strange tattoos marked all over their arms, was too much to take in at once. Clary couldn't help but feel as if she'd called on the Ghostbusters to help her.

"Does my hair look bad?" Isabelle asked, misreading her expression. She was about to take out her ponytail when Clary spoke.

"No! No, it's fine. Could we go now? The demons..." She couldn't even finish that sentence. She knew nothing about demons.

"Relax we'll handle it. Do you have your seraph blade on you?" Isabelle asked.

"My seraph what?"

Isabelle looked at Alec in frustration. "Your _seraph blade_," Alec said, enunciating it slowly. "What kind of Shadowhunter are you?"

"Wait!" Isabelle exclaimed, analyzing Clary for the first time. "You don't have _any_ runes on you!"

Clary decided to drop the charade. She threw her arms up. "I'm not a Shadowhunter, ok? Up until today I'd never heard or seen any demon! I don't even really know what a demon is!"

"What's all this about, mundane?" Isabelle snapped angrily.

_Suddenly, my name isn't Clary anymore._

"My mother! Our home has been attacked by demons and I need_ help!"_ Clary was hysterical and furious. "Isn't this your _job?" _she asked, repeating what Jace had said before she'd left.

"Yes, but how did you know to come to us? How do you know about this place?" Alec said.

"_Jace! _Your friend Jace told me to come here for help! He's at my place now trying to help me but you two are completely useless!"

The weird thing was, the mention of Jace was what seemed to cause Alec and Isabelle to spring into action. At first both of them looked paralyzed with fear. Isabelle was distinctly paler while Alec's tone immediately darkened. Then Isabelle said, "Oh my God, Alec. He wouldn't!"

"Of course he would," Alec said flatly, but there was raw fear behind his voice. "We should've known he'd do something like this."

Isabelle set her gaze on Clary. "Explain everything to us on the way."

* * *

There was no elevator in the brownstone so Jace had to take the stairs. It was then that he realized he had been to wrapped up in all the excitement and hadn't asked Clary for a key. At first he'd cursed his own stupidity but then he saw the door had been knocked down.

The place was a mess. Paintings were scattered about the floor. There was a large tear in the couch, tattered shreds set about. Jace almost wanted to dig through Clary's room first. There was a strange desire in him to explore her room- not in the creepy, perverted way. He just truly wanted to get a taste of what she was really like. He knew he had to focus on what he came here to do.

Then Jace realized he had no way of defending himself. He'd been fully aware of the fact that he was unarmed on the way here, but his vulnerability only hit him just now. There was no turning back though. No way. He looked around again for signs of demons and then heard footsteps from the kitchen. However, the steps weren't human.

Jace froze. It didn't sound like any demon he knew of. What if it was an exceptionally dangerous demon, a Greater Demon? He braced himself as the steps came closer and he saw...

A dog. For a split second a mixture of relief and disappointment washed over Jace. Then he remembered that mundanes often saw demons in the form of dogs and when he got a better look at the dog he knew it _had _to be a demon.

The dog was a mess of tangled black fur with bald patches scattered throughout. Its eyes were a liquid charcoal. It bared its razor sharp and yellowed teeth at Jace, foam bubbling at its mouth. Its growl was too harsh for a normal dog.

Jace groaned loudly. "You're supposed to be a _demon!_" he scolded.

The dog crouched down, lifting its rear and stretching its legs out in front of it. It locked its gaze on Jace, ready to pounce.

Jace took an anxious step backward. "Uh, play dead, boy?"

**A/N: Ugh, so sorry. I really wanted to get into the action of this story finally since the first few chapters are mostly a set up for future events, but this chapter was just getting way too long so I had to cut it off here. Well, review anyway and I'll get the fun chapter up soon. I just made myself an outline for the second half of the story, which I had no idea what I was going to do until two days ago. The amount of effort and brain storming I've put into this fic is crazy! Don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Falling

Fallen Gold

Chapter 4: Falling

_"I'm falling in the black. Slipping through the cracks. Falling to the depths. Can I ever go back? Dreaming of the way it used to be," -Skillet_

The dog let out another fierce bark and then lunged at Jace, head shooting forward and teeth bared. Jace leaped out of the way and landed gracefully. "You're going to have to do better than that, pup." The dog swiftly turned on its paws and pounded after Jace.

Jace leaped out of the way at the last second, hoping the demon would be stupid enough to crash into the wall behind him. Apparently not though, because it skidded to a halt right before the wall, turned, and tackled into Jace, mouth snapping furiously. Jace fell to the floor behind the couch, shock coursing through him.

The dog had its paws pinned on Jace's chest. It took a bite at Jace. If Jace hadn't snapped his head back-so far that he hurt his head as it thumped onto the wooden floor-the dog would've torn his face off. Jace gave the dog a kick to the stomach and rolled out of the way, head throbbing in an almost obnoxious way.

The dog was quick to respond and made a dash for him. Jace scrambled to his feet. He placed an arm on the couch to balance himself and then leaped over it and around the coffee table. The dog didn't even have to think twice about jumping over the couch and following Jace close behind.

Jace ran into the kitchen, draws broken, open, and utensils scattered about. The glint of a knife on the floor immediately caught Jace's eye. He reached for it and in a split second whirled around, took aim, and then chucked it at the dog. It dug into its side, and the dog cried out a furious yelp. _Gotcha! _

Before it could regain its footing Jace scrambled for a new knife, but he wasn't fast enough. A blow to his back sent him flying and he fell, hands out in front of him to break the fall. His right hand dug into a fork and four stinging red dots of blood appeared on the palm of his hand. _Better than my face, _Jace thought grimly and rolled onto his back.

He swore colorfully when he saw that the dog was leaping toward him again and Jace hardly had time to move before it landed on his chest, pressing the air out of him like a balloon. He suddenly realized how stupid this had been; how easily he'd thrown away his life._ Just like a mundane, _he thought dreadfully. For some reason he could see the soft features of a girl with curly red hair, but Jace couldn't remember where he'd seen that before. Gasping for air, he could only pray the end would be as painless as possible.

Dimly, Jace could feel the stinging in his right palm, warm blood trickling down, and hear footsteps in the other room. He was positive that the voice shouting his name he'd heard was just his imagination. It was Isabelle's voice and the perfect mixture of terror and joy.

When he saw Alec and Isabelle in the kitchen, he realized it was real. Jace wanted to scream their names, but could hardly breathe. He was sure no one had ever been as happy as he was during a near death experience.

"What are you doing here?" Isabelle cried.

"Oh, you know. Just hanging out," Jace managed to choke out.

Isabelle unleashed her signature gold whip and gave it a satisfying _crack!_ It knocked the dog off of Jace, who greedily inhaled large gulps of air immediately. His eyes followed a dagger that Isabelle tossed. When it struck the demon Jace saw a hideous, black bug.

_"The demon! I can see the demon!"_ Jace shouted so loudly his throat burned. He knew he sounded delirious.

Alec instinctively raced over to Jace, hauled him up from under his arms, and then shoved him away from the demon. _"I saw it!"_ Jace repeated. Alec roughly pushed him backward again and gave Jace the nastiest glare he could muster.

"Piss off!" Jace barked and shouldered Alec aside.

But the demon was gone; all that remained was black blood splattered on the floor and dripping off the seraph blade in Isabelle's hand. She put in down and walked over to Jace.

"Jace!" exclaimed Isabelle.

"Are you guys using glamour right now?" Jace demanded.

"What's all this about?" she demanded.

"Just tell me!"

"No, why would we? You can't see-"

_"Use your glamour!"_

"Have you lost your mind?" Alec barked.

"Alec, let's just do it," Isabelle gave in.

"But he-"

"We'll never get him to quit if we don't."

"Are you using it?" Jace asked after a moment.

"Yes," Alec said.

"I can_ still _see you guys!" he exclaimed.

"Well, now that's out of the way. Are you ok?" she asked.

"What were you thinking?" Alec demanded through gritted teeth.

Jace ignored him. "I will be," he said to Isabelle. "Isabelle, I saw the demon! Right before you killed it I saw-"

"Forget about that right now," Isabelle said. She stared at him for a moment. When she saw he was mostly unharmed a look of relief washed the paleness out of her face. And then unexpectedly threw her arms around him. Jace stiffened for a second. He didn't return the gesture, only stood there thinking about how much he'd missed her.

Clary watched all this from the hallway, standing meekly with her hands behind her back. The sight of the demon terrified her. She was glad Alec and Isabelle had told her to stay outside.

"Mom has been really worried about you, you know," Isabelle said.

The color from Jace's face drained. "That's pretty hypocritical of her."

"She only did what the Clave would want her to do," Alec said, a warning in his tone.

_"I didn't know he was Valentine!" _Jace said furiously.

"Valentine or not you still shouldn't have done it!"

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

"I'm not on anybody's side! This isn't about what happened to you. This is about what an idiot you are!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Tonight you officially became the most odious person I know!" Alec cried with animosity.

"It's nice to see you too, bro," Jace said, though he was a little taken aback. He'd never seen Alec this enraged before.

"You just put everyone in danger tonight. Including yourself!"

"Alec, calm down," Isabelle said, startled.

"I did it to help Clary," Jace said simply. "Her mother is missing, remember?"

"No, you didn't, you liar! You did this because you wanted to see me and you wanted to see Isabelle and you were hoping to see through the glamour! And you cozened us all by making us think you actually care about that girl's mother! If you she knew you like I did she'd you that you only do favors if there's something for you in it!"

Jace remained stoic. "Odious? Cozened? How's that word of the day calendar working out for you, buddy?"

A burst of rage swirled within Alec's dark blue eyes. He inhaled slowly and looked at Isabelle. "Use the sensor and see if you can track down any more demon activity." She nodded and took off, eager to leave Alec and Jace.

"Why don't we just hug it out?" Jace asked, spreading out his arms.

"Listen to me, Jace Wayland, and listen good-"

"Oh, but don't you remember? I'm not Jace _Wayland_ anymore."

"Don't change the topic!" Alec barked, so sharply that Clary jumped even from her place in the hallway. "You know we're forbidden to see you and yet you come here and risk us suffering the same fate you did. Then you get yourself tangled with a demon and risk your own pathetic life. Go home, Jace. Go home and don't come see us again. If you ever put me-if you ever put my sister-in danger like this again I'll kill you."

Jace glared at Alec, challenging him. He was stunned though. Every thing Alec had said was true, but he hadn't ever stopped to give any consequences a second thought. Jace was too angry to let him get away with it though, even if he _was_ right. "Make me."

Alec flung out his arms and shoved Jace toward the door. Jace, reacting automatically, shoved him back furiously. He was about to throw a punch and then stopped himself. They'd fought before and they'd hit each other in training duels, but Jace couldn't remember the last time he'd hit Alec out of anger or if he ever even had. They stared each other down, both looking equally angry and regretful.

Isabelle returned. She read their expressions and decided it was better not to ask. "I can't trace any other demon signals. I think we're clear here. I can't find anyone else here, though. Clary's mother and that mundane Luke she said came here are definitely missing."

"What the hell do demons want with a mundane family?" Alec asked, frustrated.

"I really don't think Clary's a mundane since she has the Sight," Jace suggested.

Alec leered at him. "Shut up."

"He's got a point, Alec. She might be a Shadowhunter. It's not unheard of you know, just not very common."

"What isn't?" asked Jace.

"Parents converting to a mundane lifestyle for the benefit and safety of their children. Maybe that's what Clary's mother did; hide her from where she truly belonged."

Jace's face darkened. He couldn't imagine a parent willingly converting a Shadowhunter into a mundane. He heard the door open and turned to see Clary, standing timidly.

"What happened to my mother?" she asked.

"We don't know," Alec said, not kindly.

"What can-"

"There's nothing we can do, mundane," Isabelle said, cutting Clary off. "Except alert the Clave."

"The Clave?"

Isabelle rolled her eyes as if this was something any normal human should know. "The official government in the Shadowhunting world."

"But my mom isn't a Shadowhunter! You just called me mundane yourself!" Clary snapped, frustrated.

"Well, you haven't been _proven _a Shadowhunter. Until then you're mundane."

"Jace, Clary, go outside. Isabelle and I want to do one more quick inspection for demons," Alec said and Jace felt a flare of anger heat his body.

_You think I'm a moron? I know you want to talk to Isabelle in private. You're leaving me out because I'm a mundane now? Is my input nothing to you anymore? Am I not still your brother just because I'm no longer a Shadowhunter? As if Maryse hasn't already made me feel horrible. Like mother like son I guess. _

Jace was ready to voice these opinions, furiously and with much more colorful words thrown in. He looked to Clary, waiting for her to leave first. He examined her more closely then.

She looked so broken. Her body was hunched over and her eyes, emerald and drowning in sadness. Her lip trembled slightly. Crossing her arms over her body protectively Clary walked outside. Suddenly forgetting his anger and wanting to talk to Clary, Jace left them alone. He couldn't help but feel closer to her; he was just as broken as she was.

Clary was sitting on the curb, hugging her quivering knees to her chest. She'd dialed Luke's for the fourth time and he hadn't answered. She'd never been so terrified in her life and her mother..._gone._ Clary let out a choked sob and felt hot tears sting her eyes.

"I take it you're not in the best of moods right now," she heard Jace say from behind her. He didn't sound in the least bit sympathetic. He might as well have been stating how the weather is with the tone he was using.

Clary wanted to whirl around and snap at him, but she was on the verge of tears. _I will _not _breakdown in front of Jace. _Still unable to collect herself, Clary stood up and began walking away aimlessly.

"Wait up!" she heard Jace say. He grabbed her arm.

Clary turned to face him. _"What?"_ she spat, sounding less angry than she'd hoped she would sound and more hysterical. "What could you possibly want from me? In the short time I've known you it seems all you like to do is make fun of people! My _whole life _has just been ruined and the entire night I've endured you and those jerks you sent me to!" Clary tried to ignore the tears as they fell.

"Alec and Isabelle are trying to help-"

"Help you to insult me! Should I go upstairs so you guys can have another round? Actually, I'm a little busy. I'll mail you all a photograph for visual aid."

_"Clary!" _Jace cried. "We need you to come back inside and tell us everything you know about your mother."

"Are you sure? I mean she is a_ mundane_, the lowest form of life," Clary said and then she saw Jace snicker. It startled her, as if she'd fallen into some sort of trap he'd set up.

He shrugged. "Ok, fine. You don't want our help then that's that. Good luck with everything." Jace smugly turned on his heel and began to walk away.

Clary realized then that she had no choice but to come crawling back to Jace asking him for his help. If Clary had been angry before, it was nothing compared to the tidal wave of rage that crashed inside her now. She pounded after Jace.

He spared her a pretentious glance over his shoulder. "Change of heart?" he asked lightly. Clary didn't say anything. She just stomped back to her house furiously, not caring to look at the much amused Jace.

They went upstairs to find Alec and Isabelle sitting on the now torn couch. Alec had a tense, angered air to him while Isabelle looked as arrogant as ever. Jace sat next to Isabelle, careful not to look at Alec. When Isabelle stared at him with a mix of pity and acceptance, as if she knew Alec's outburst was justified, he quickly looked away, resorting to nervously pulling at a loose thread on the couch.

"Was your mother a Shadowhunter?" Alec asked, not beating around the bush.

"No, my mother is the most normal person I've ever met," Clary said, not appreciating Alec using the word "was". He scowled at Clary. "Wrong answer I guess," she muttered under her breath.

"How do you explain this then?" Alec gestured to the overturned table and broken paintings.

Clary shrugged. "Frat party?"

Alec's face twisted as if he'd tasted something awful. Isabelle suggested bringing her to the Institute to speak with Hodge, but Alec immediately dismissed the idea. After some arguing Alec asked, "You have no other relatives?"

"No," Clary said. She could stay with Simon, but Clary figured staying at the Institute with Shadowhunters was the best chance she had of getting her mother back.

"You will return with us to the the Institute-_temporarily_,_" _Alec said. A muffled laugh came from Jace.

_Well, aren't you a sweetheart? _"Ok," Clary said.

Alec looked around thoughtfully. "This place is pretty much trashed, but I guess you can take anything that survived with you. We'll be waiting outside until then." He looked at Jace and Clary saw, for once, a mix of regret, maybe even sadness, in his expression. Then he and Isabelle left.

Clary went into her room, still looking shaken. Jace followed her. "A lot to take in in just one night, huh?"

"You sure are an interesting trio," Clary said, surprising Jace.

"Meaning...?"

Clary appeared to be searching for the right words, then she said, "Meaning Isabelle is painfully ostentatcious, Alec's hostility is terrifying and you..."

"Go on."

"You're _infuriating_." Jace cocked an eyebrow. "One minute you're sarcastic and your attitude sucks. The next you're not expressing any emotions at all. You don't seem to care about anyone and you won't leave me alone!"

"I was just following you around in hopes of finding demons, just like Alec said," Jace said quickly.

Clary was angry at herself for actually expecting a nicer response and for being unable to ignore her disappointment. "Alec was really mad at you."

Jace looked at her, the yellow in his eyes pale and ghostly. "He had no reason not to be. As for why he's being so mean to you, it's not really that he's mad at you. Alec has a crazy sense of protection over me and the fact that you helped me get myself into danger is why he was upset with you. He thinks I don't know these things but I do."

Clary was too tired to argue that she had nothing to do with Jace jumping into danger, and that Alec probably needed to be protective of him, judging Jace's actions tonight. She also knew it was futile to try to argue anyway. "What did he mean by suffer the same fate as you?" she asked as she grabbed some clothes from her dresser.

"Isn't it obvious by now? I broke a law and the Clave had my runes stripped from me. I can't be a Shadowhunter anymore."

"What did you do to lose your runes? That seems like such a harsh punishment unless you did something awful." Clary was afraid to hear the answer.

Jace's tawny eyes widened. _"Sed lex dura lex," _he said, voice empty but acid lacing every word.

"What does that mean?"

"The Law is hard but it is the Law. I broke the Law, I am now going to suffer for it. That's all you need to know, Clary. The Clave ruled that if they spotted me with the Lightwoods-that's Alec, Isabelle, their brother Max, and their parents-they'd remove their runes too.

"When I was first convicted Alec and Isabelle insisted they stay with me, but I'd never let them end up like me. What the hell could they have done anyway? We decided we'd wait several months so then the Clave wouldn't be as concerned with me. Then after all they hype died down we'd meet up again.

"I had plans of my own though. I tried to see through the glamours. I figured if I could then I would go to the Clave and remind them that I was the best Shadowhunter my age. I'd ask them for forgiveness and maybe..._maybe_ they'd grant me my runes again but...I can't see anything." That last phrase Jace exhaled weakly. "Well, tonight being an exception I guess."

Clary thought Jace had to be desperate. It didn't seem as though he "asked for forgivness" very often. She felt a wave of pity overwhelm her...which she knew he would hate. But he lost every thing. His identity, his family, his...

"You're staring at me. I know I'm attractive but come on."

Ok, sympathy_ over_. "Sorry," she murmured. Then she remembered she was pretty much in the same situation as her was. Her mother and Luke were both gone and she had no idea what happened. Suddenly Clary began to pity herself.

"Are they all your friends?" Clary tried holding too many of her surviving art supplies at once and dropped them, colored pencils rolling about the floor. Jace made no motion to help her pick them up. He seemed too lost in his own thoughts and only bothered to glance at the floor.

"They're my adoptive family. Alec and I are closer than brothers."

Clary decided it was best not to voice her opinion on that. From tonight alone it didn't seem Alec and Jace got along very well. "Why don't you live with your real parents?"

Jace decided to answer with a question. "Are you almost ready? They're probably waiting for you."

"Almost," Clary said as she searched for more clothing. "Who are you living with now? A friend?"

Jace hesitated. "You could say that." He thought of Kristy then, blonde like he was-though her hair was more the color of honey than gold and had a distinctly silky texture-and perky. She was probably worried about him.

Clary, lost in her own pained thoughts, began stuffing her clothes into her bag.

"Alec and Isabelle are trying to keep me away from Shadowhunter business."

She looked to Jace. "What?"

"If I keep pestering them the Clave will find out and I could screw them over." It was only when Jace began to pace that Clary realized he was talking to himself. He stopped as soon as he'd started and stared directly at Clary, eyes bright with malice. "But no one said anything about you."

Clary exhaled. She knew where this was going. "Jace-" she began but he was so excited her cut her off.

"You! You're going to stay at the Insitute. You could fill me in on everything."

"Like a spy?"

"Exactly like a spy. You can't call me from the Institute because they'll trace the call. So you'll have to drop by my apartment."

Clary felt light-headed. Not once did Jace ask whether or not she actually wanted to do this for him, but she was going to do it anyway. Partly because it was the only piece of his old life Jace had and partly because she wanted to see him again. "What will I tell them every time I leave?"

Jace began to pace again, faster and with more purpose. "Oh! Tell them you're visiting your mundane friend...Ian?"

_"Simon!"_ Clary snapped.

Jace shrugged. "Potato, potato," he said, indicating the two separate pronunciations. Jace wrote his address and cell phone number down on a piece of paper.

"When should I stop by?" Clary asked as she grabbed her sketchbook and the two of them went downstairs and outside where it was sticky with humidity.

"Whenever you hear something important. Keep your ears open." He looked so painfully hopeful yet sad, as if already expecting disappointment. It made Clary want to cry, not just for him, but for herself. She had enough sadness in her for both of them.

"I'm leaving," Jace said, nodding his head to Clary as a goodbye. He didn't bother to say goodbye to the Alec and Isabelle.

She watched him walk off. Under the streetlights he looked even sadder; his hair and skin making him white gold, like an angel with broken wings. "Jace?" she called. He turned to face her, hands jammed into his pockets, the skin on his face so pale that his eyes were a brighter gold. He had the face of a fallen angel, gentle, but hardened and sad. She drew a breath, realizing only then that his sorrowful beauty had taken her breath away. "I'll tell you anything as I find out," she said lamely.

He acknowledged this with a nod of his head. She watched him until he disappeared into the crowded streets.

**A/N: So...I've been on fanfiction for a while and I think it's about time I got someone to give me their thoughts and opinions on my story. Anyone know of a good beta reader for MI? I mean someone who has experience in writing. As in they've taken classes or are a creative writing major or something like that. Don't forget to review. Thanks.**


	6. Chapter 5: Accidentally In Love

**A/N: Worst mistake of my life? Getting a job this summer. So that's why this update is late and other updates will be less frequent. Sorry. Nothing I can do. **

Fallen Gold

Chapter 5: Accidentally In Love

_"Well I didn't mean to do it but there's no escaping your love." -Counting Crows_

"I'm bored," Katie said with a dramatic sigh. She folded her arms across her chest and looked around the empty room with displeasure.

Maia Roberts couldn't argue with her friend. One would have thought the life of a werewolf would be more interesting. It's not like they ever had any missions to go on or really any purpose at all. The life of a Shadowhunter, always chasing after demons that lurked in the sewers or wherever, that had to be more fun.

"Want to go shopping?" Maia offered. Shopping was always a hobby that was too girly for her taste, but she had to do something. The old, abandoned police station in Chinatown that the pack lived in wasn't exactly the dream home of the average teenage girl.

"With what money?" Katie said irritably. "Tell me, Maia, what job do you have that your boss doesn't make you work nights at all?"

Maia frowned. That was always the issue with werewolves. The door flung open and Maia turned to see a fellow pack member, Derek. The boy was only a little bit older than Maia and Katie. Maia had been fawning over him since she'd first joined the pack. He was perfect. Not too handsome, just the way she liked it, with a skinny frame and brown hair with dyed blue highlights. He wasn't cocky but confident, predictable, and trustworthy. But these qualities didn't make him boring either. He was her own personal miracle.

"Hey, Derek," Maia said, already blushing.

He shot her a playful grin. "You girls bored?"

"Yes," Katie declared eagerly as abruptly stood up.

"Well, I've got the perfect solution. You girls ever been on a run?"

"What do you mean?" Katie asked.

"The guys and I do it all the time. Basically we run through the streets of Manhattan while were werewolves."

"Oh," Katie said, immediately disheartened.

"Look, I know it sounds boring but it's a blast. Dodging trees, running like bullets, the wind in your fur. If you do it right it's a huge adrenaline rush."

"That sounds great. I'm in," Maia said with enthusiasm.

"I knew you'd be game," Derek said with a wink that made her heart flutter. "Katie?"

She shrugged. "Sure, why not? If it'll get me out of this dump for an hour."

"Ok, we'll meet you two ten minutes before midnight."

"Midnight! Why can't we just go now? It's almost dark."

"Does it even have to be dark to run?" Maia asked.

"Of course it has to be. It's way more exciting that way. Just find a way to entertain yourself until then. We depart at midnight, girls."

Maia never would've thought running would be that much fun, but it was. Maia, Derek, Katie, and other teenagers in the pack were darting through the streets of Manhattan at an unstoppable speed. Maia was pretty sure that if she ran into a tree or a building, she would surely be seriously injured. But Derek was right. It was a huge adrenaline rush! Her paws pounding the earth made her feel strong and her speed made her feel as though she was flying. The wind was in her eyes but her vision was good enough to still see where she was going. The summer heat was unpleasant, but the wind did fly through her fur and cooled her off a little.

The group finally stopped running. Maia wasn't sure how long they ran for but was sure that it had ended too soon. She shifted back into her human form and collapsed against the wall of a building. The rest of the group did the same. For a while the only sound that could be heard was the pack catching their breaths'.

"Where are we?" Maia eventually asked.

"We're on 44th Street," Derek answered.

"Wait a minute," Katie said, looking around. "This is the Majestic Theatre."

"The what?" Maia asked.

"Only the home to the most famous Broadway musical. _The Phantom of the Opera_!"

"Who cares?" one of the other boys, Mike, snapped irritably as Maia glanced up to see that Katie was right. They were indeed at the theatre that held the famous musical. She looked to Derek, just to see what he was doing. He was in fact staring right back at her. He smiled a crooked smile and Maia's heart fluttered.

"I do! _The Phantom of the Opera _is one of the most beautiful, tragic love stories ever written."

"I thought it was about some freak with a face deformity," Maia said.

"Well...it is, but it's way more deep than Phantom is just a ghost story people tell at the opera house, but it turns out he exists." Katie heightened the pitch of her voice to make it sound more mysterious. "The enigmatic Phantom lurks underneath the opera house and you never know who his next victim will be."

One of the boys groaned. "Come on, Katie."

Katie sat down with a huff. "You guys are no fun."

Maia was about to turn and say something to Derek when she saw a dark figure huddled behind a trash can. It was there and gone in an instant. Maia blinked. She hadn't even seen the shadow run off. She shook her head and chalked it up to her mind playing tricks on her. A few seconds later she heard someone pounding on the door behind them.

The pack whirled around to see one of the doors was opened. "What the hell was that?" Mike said.

"Where's Derek?" Maia asked shakily. She thought of the dark figure by the trash can.

"He's playing a joke on us. The Phantom is coming to haunt us!" Mike said in a mocking tone.

"Come on out, Derek!" Katie called. "We all know you're screwing with us! Besides, it's an insult to make fun of this beautiful show."

"How'd he get the door to the theatre open?" Maia said nervously. "They don't put on shows at one in the morning."

Mike shrugged. "Let's go inside and see if we can find the little wise ass."

The pack went through the open door. The lobby inside had a patterned gold rug and a low ceiling. The lights were out and the darkness made Maia even more afraid. The rug had a streak of dirt on it.

"Derek!" several of the teenagers called out.

"This isn't funny!" Katie exclaimed.

They walked up the stairs, which were covered with the same gold and brown rug, and were on the balcony. The massive theatre was stunning with red chairs lined up all the way across and railings in front of them. Maia looked down and could see a stone arch with the stage resting beneath it. She saw a crumpled figure on the stage. The blood in her body turned icy. She couldn't voice her concern to the rest of the pack, who seemed to think this was all a joke, because there was a lump in her throat. She ran toward the stairs, turned into her werewolf form, and went downstairs.

She entered the theatre downstairs and jumped up onto the stage. Maia went back into her human form and croutcheddown beside the body. Please don't be Derek, she silently begged. Maia bent down beside the figure, and knew before she even turned the body over that it was her crush. His mouthwas parted slightly, as if he had died before he could scream. His hair was damp with sweat and his throat was slit open, scarlet dripping down his front and staining Maia's hands.

"Maia!" someone called, but Maia hadn't heard it. "Are you there?"

A scream tore its way out of Maia's throat.

* * *

Clary had been at the Institute for two weeks now but she still felt like a guest. At home she could simply go for breakfast with her hair unbrushed and still in her pajamas, even if Luke or Simon was over. But when she was here she had to get dressed and brush out her hair. So Clary threw on a lime green tank top, denim shorts, and brushed out her strawberry curls that were always so against staying in place when she first woke up in the morning.

Alec was already at the table in the kitchen. "Hey, Clary," he said as he removed bread from the toaster. He was a lot more tolerant of her presence now that the situation with Jacewas over with, but Clary knew that didn't necessarily mean he liked her.

"Hi," Clary said as she sat down and poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Is Isabelle up yet?"

As if on cue, Alec and Clary turned to see Isabelle, dressed in skinny jeans and a pink sequin shirt, storm into the kitchen. Her expression grim. She smacked both her hands onto the table, making Clary jump. "You won't believe what happened. A werewolf boy was murdered last night in Times Square."

"No!" cried Alec, shocked.

"How'd you find out?" Clary asked.

"Hodge told me this morning. Apparently the Clave is sending people to invisetigate the vampires, who are of course, furious."

"They're so sensitive," Alec said with a roll of his eyes. He went back to buttering his toast.

Isabelle shook her head. "You don't understand. Now that it has been confirmed that Valentine is alive," and here Alec shuddered, "the vampires are angry that they aren't looking for him first."

It took Clary a second to stay on the same page with Isabelle as she had to remember what little information she had learned about Valentine. they had been very vague when talking about him. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. Whenever a conversation came up that involved Jace, the two Lightwoods either immediately changed the topic or just stopped talking at all. Somehow, some way, Valentine had something to do with Jace. That couldn't be good considering Valentine was a murderous monster.

"Do they think Valentine killed the werewolf?" Alec asked. His sister shrugged. "Well, I don't know what he would want to kill one werewolf for. It seems a little useless to me."

"Same here. I also heard the werewolf's blood wasn't drained. The pack was with him apparently. They were outside a theatre and found the boy _on the stage_ inside the theatre. I don't know how sneaky a vampire could be to drag one of them into the theatre, kill him on the stage, and then escape unseen without even bothering to drain the blood. It doesn't make any sense."

"Doesn't the Clave see that?" Clary asked.

"Probably, but the Clave doesn't want to believe Valentine is alive."

"Maybe it was a rogue Shadowhunter..." Alec seemed hesistant to suggest it.

"I doubt the Clave wants to believe that either."

"That's ridiculous! Just because they don't want to believe something is wrong doesn't make it right!" Clary cried.

"When Valentine is in the picture, everything gets totally messed up," Isabelle explained. "It doesn't make sense, but it's true."

"Once they investigate the vampires they'll move on. They just want to eliminate all other possiblities before they resort to the worst one of all," Alec added.

"I think I'm going to pay a visit to Simon tonight," Clary said suddenly. "Things have been weird between us lately." She had been following Jace'sdirections, lying to them and saying she was spending all her time with Simon. For the first week Clary had given what little information she had to Jace. It soon became clear that there was hardly anything to inform Jace about, but Clary kept coming back. Since Jace didn't ever mention it Clary had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Isabelle shrugged. "Sure. Do whatever you want." Her and Alec clearly had too much to worry about to care, but that only made it easier for Clary.

* * *

The bar was dimly lit and smelled strongly of cigarettes and alcohol. At mundane bars all of the males looked like they were in desperate need of a shower and most were overweight. Vampire bars were quite different. They looked younger, slimerand wore shirts that showed off their muscular arms. The waitresses were all slender with long legs and wore torn fishnet stockings and extremely high black heels.

He took a seat at the bar, the counter covered with a layer of dirt. This was one of the cleaner bars Jacehad gone to though. Tonight was vampire night. If mundanes ever discovered the truth of the glamours they saw they'd be able to see through them. In a weird way that sort of is what activated the Sight within Jace. Now, straining his eyesight until the backs of his eyes hurt, Jace could see through the glamours.

The first thing he thought to do was see the Lightwoods, but that was out of the question. Alec probably hated him by now anyway. So he went to an area where demons are heavily populated. That was probably his worst idea _ever_. Jace nearly died that night, but the adrenaline rush felt great. He decided not to go back though, despite how much fun nearly getting killed had been. Seeing through the glamour made him one step closer to where he wanted to be and he wasn't going to risk his life and his chance of getting there.

Well, that wasn't_ strictly _true. He couldn't fight demons, but Jace, still the master of speed and strength, wasn't going to waste his Sight. Jace was probably the only human who thought picking fights with vampires and werewolves at bars was a good time.

In fact this was the third bar he'd been to this week alone, just to pick fights. Among the dirty, greasy haired men, Jace, withhis light skin and golden hair, stood out. That was fine with him though, helpful even. He sat at the counter with his head held high, knowing that everyone else was aware of his attractiveness.

Jace felt a cold liquid splatter onto his shirt. The husky vampire next to him with a large scar under his eye had elbowed his glass, knocking it over. Jaceobserved the dark stain that soaked his shirt. The vampire didn't even notice. He was roaring with laughter and babbling on about something stupid.

"Hey!" Jace barked furiously. The vampire didn't notice. _"Hey!"_

The vampire turned around, sizing Jace up. For a vampire, he wasn't all that attractive. He looked puzzled, unable to tell if Jace was a mundane or a Shadowhunter. The boy's smaller frame mislead him into thinking he wasn't strong. He snorted. "Yeah, what do you want, runt?"

"Watch it you clumsy oaf!" Jace said, gesturing to his shirt.

The vampire puffed out his chest, revealed his fangs, and glared at Jace threateningly. To his surprise, Jace smiled maliciously. "Something funny, boy?"

"No, I was just wondering why you're wearing that horrific mask. I hope you know it's not Halloween yet...Unless that's your_ face!" _Jace exclaimed, mocking surprise.

The vampire growled like an animal and swung a punch at him. Jace was much too fast though. He ducked and made his way to the bathroom, laughing the whole time.

He knew it was useless before he'd even tried, but Jace was having no luck getting the stain out. He wet another paper towel, applied soap, and scrubbed at his shirt vigorously. It was no use. The shirt Kristy had purchased for him was ruined.

Jace turned the knob on the filthy sink and splashed some cool water onto his face. His hair fell just above his eyes, droplets of water dripping onto his face, fittingly looking like tears of anger. Jace stared at the person in the mirror and scowled. Resisting the urge to punch the already cracked mirror, if he bled the vampires would be all over him, he reached for a paper towel.

Another vampire entered the bathroom. Like the man outside, he also sized Jace up. This vampire bar was mostly for vampires who were changed later in life. "Aren't you a little young for this place?"

Jace observed his surroundings thoughtfully. "A bathroom? Nah, they're for all ages."

"Young for _here," _the man snarled, pointing to the door.

The boy rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I seriously doubt bathrooms have age restrictions, _sir_," Jace said. He shot the man an infuriating smile before stepping outside. Standing before him was the man who had spilled the drink on him. Behind Jace the other man had followed him out. Both of them looked ready to teach him a lesson, fangs unleashed.

Jace smirked._ Let the games begin. _

* * *

Clary felt a bit better knowing that she actually had information to give to Jace that day. She'd met his unofficial guardian, Kristy, but she was usually working. Though Jacenever had much to say about her and Clary had only spoken to her a handful of times, she liked Kristy a lot. Clary often found being with Jacea comfortable break from all the horror that had recently barged into her life. She felt like she was drowning under all the changes and when she was with Jace she could just...float.

Jace seemed to like Clary as well. He even told her some of his childhood. Clary never thought he would. He told her how he grew up in Idris with his father, how his father was strict and often abusive, but never went into any detail about that particular subject, how he tried so hard to please him but in the end was "too pure" for him, how ashamed he was upon being sent to New York. He never really told Clary he was ashamed, but his eyes were a dead giveaway for her. She always heard eyes were the key to a person's soul. This saying was especially true for stoic Jace.

"What's your last name?" Clary had asked Jace when he was finished telling the story.

"Wayland," he'd answered flatly.

"But you told Alec that day that you 'weren't Jace Wayland anymore'. What did you mean by that?"

"Do you know your father? You've never mentioned him."

Clary hated it when he answered with a question, but then explained that her father was, according to Jocelyn, dead. But with all the lies her mother had told her for her entire life, who knows?

Clary pondered this thought as she waited for Jace to answer the door to Kristy's apartment. To her surprise Kristy answered for once. She usually was out; Kristy was pretty busy for a woman who was single and had no children Clary knew of.

"Clary! How nice to see you," Kristy said. She was wearing a pink sundress with a floral pattern and Clary noticed she'd cut her hair so that it was straight and down to her shoulders. She couldn't help but envy Kristy's silky blonde hair and slender figure. Even women older than Clary seemed to be blessed with more attractive features. "Jace!" she called. "Your girlfriend is here!"

Clary blushed furiously. _She means girl who is a friend,_ she told herself, but Kristy's amused expression told her otherwise. "I like your dress," Clary said quickly.

To her relief Kristy said, "Thanks, I have a date tonight. He's a real catch, beer belly, hirsute, and thinning brown hair. That kind of stuff makes me wild," Kristy said dreamily.

Clary looked at her funny, unsure if she was actually kidding. Maybe she was one of those women who had strange passions?

"I'm kidding!" exclaimed Kristy. "You're a little uptight."

"I wasn't sure," Clary muttered, annoyed.

At that moment Jace had come over to the two girls. He had the same expression Clary was beginning to recognize. He always seemed to create a mask of indifference, but underneath it was a look of utter defeat. He never seemed to remove that mask though and if it ever slipped away he had it back in a second. Clary wondered how exhausting it must be for him to always force his emotions away like that.

Jace looked paler today. He was wearing loose fitting jeans and a gray sweatshirt. His feet were bare. "Clary," he said as a form of greeting. He was holding a can of soda.

"Hi," she replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"Ok, if you two are like that all the time I _really_ don't have to worry about leaving you two alone tonight."

"How do you know awkwardness doesn't get us feeling dirty?" Jace asked, opening his soda and taking a drink.

Kristy whistled. "You're right. I need to think stuff like this through. I'd make a horrible mother."

"There are many people who _have _children and should not be parents." There was a bitterness in Jace's tone.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hitler could've just watched TV that night," Kristy suggested. "Anyway I should go. Don't have any awkward conversations on my bed, kids. I don't need to come home to that."

"_How_ did you meet her?" Clary asked once she left.

"Just kind of ran into her one day...literally. It's not important though."

"I actually have something to tell you, but it isn't good news." Jace sat down on the couch and Clary sat next to him. "Last night a werewolf was murdered."

Jace raised his eyebrows, but expressed no visable emotion. "And?"

"And the Clave is sending people to investigate the vampires."

"Well, they are old enemies."

"Jace! What about Valentine? Doesn't he hate Downworlders?"

"Killing one werewolf is pretty pointless. I don't think Valentine would waste time on that unless it's part of some complicated grand plan."

"What should we do?"

"We can't do anything, especially me."

"I suppose we can't."

"Thanks for telling me I guess." Jace took a sip of his soda.

"Sure. It's no problem."

"You know that's pretty much the first useful thing you've told me since you started coming here."

Clary began to blush again. She looked away. Did he not want her to come here anymore? She thought he at least enjoyed her company. When she looked to him again, he was staring at her. Gathering some courage she said, "Jace, how do you feel about me?"

He looked just as surprised as she felt. "What do you mean?"

Clary suddenly wished she hadn't asked. "I mean do you like me or do you just think of me as your messenger girl?" She couldn't believe how fast the words just rolled off her tongue. Her heart slammed against her chest and she only realized now how much his answer meant to her. At the same time she silently scolded herself for opening her heart up so easily, Jace preyed on vulnerability. She waited for him to verbally slam a blade into her heart and then smirk with satisfaction as blood squirted everywhere.

Jace exhaled, strands of gold hair lifting momentarily. "I like you, Clary."

While she hadn't even expected him to be that nice, Clary couldn't deny her disappointment. "Oh," she said simply.

"How do you feel about me?" He took another sip of soda.

She tried to read his expression, but he was infuriatingly blank. "I like you," she said matter-of-factly.

He nodded slowly, thoughtfully and placed his can of soda on the wooden coffee table in front of them. "Ok." Then, to her astonishment, he closed up the space between her and himself on the couch. Their hips were touching. A burning desire to move erupted inside of Clary. Whether to back away because the nerves were too much or to throw away her fears and have more physical contact with him, she couldn't stand just sitting still. "I think," he said slowly, "that I like you a whole lot more than I had planned on liking you." He wasn't looking at her.

"How much did you plan on liking me?"

"It was going to range from mild indifference to considering you as a friend, depending on how much you annoyed me. In fact the way I feel about you now, well, it was an accident. I didn't mean to feel this way."

"Well, how did you-" Clary stopped midsentence, and was shocked to feel his lips pressed to hers forcefully. Jace leaned forward, eyes closed. He placed his hands on her shoulders. The kiss was passionate, and angry, but Clary could tell from his firm but gentle touch that he wasn't specifically angry with her. He was just angry with the way his life had turned out, and he was unleashing this anger through the kiss.

His lips were warm and wet and smooth. She tasted sugar on them from the soda he'd been drinking. Just because she'd always wanted to, Clary tangled her fingers in his hair.

They pulled away and Clary drew in a stunned breath. "What was that?" she asked, her fingers aching to touch him again.

Jace's eyes darted away from her's. "What do you mean?" he asked defensively.

"I mean that was like nothing I've ever felt before." She never thought a kiss could feel so..._dangerous._

He looked at her. "In a bad way or in a good way?" His eyes were tearing right through her.

Clary thought for a moment. "In a good way," she said finally, and was confident in her answer.

"Good," Jace said and picked up from right where he left off. This time even more forcefully, which Clary hadn't thought was possible. He put his hands around her waist and gently fell on top of her. Clary gasped between breaths, but didn't stop, couldn't if she wanted to. His chest was touching her's, his legs sprawled on either side of her. He planted kiss after kiss, each one more rough and passionate than the one before it. If it weren't for his gentle touch, Clary would've sworn he was simply taking his anger out on her in a unique way.

Clary's heart was hammering inside of her, her blood rushing to her head too quickly. This was so much more than she had ever imagined. She felt his fingers drift from her waist to the inside of her shirt. He slid his fingers down her waist but kept them there. Clary inhaled through clenched teeth. How far did he want to go? Clary had never "made out" with a guy before and wasn't exactly sure how far she wanted to go for the first time. How far did most girls go?

Then Clary realized she wasn't like most girls anyway and shouldn't be modeling her own experiences off of them. _What do I really want? _Clary asked herself. _I don't know. _Clary figured if she had any doubt about moving farther, she must not be ready to go farther.

"Jace, wait!" She quickly moved out from under him.

As if awakened from a trance, Jace stared at her, mildly surprised with himself for getting so lost. "Did I hurt you?" He didn't sound sorry or embarrassed, just purely curious.

"No, I-I just..." His blank stare was terrifying and her heart pounding made it difficult to think. Had he felt anything at all or was it all in Clary's head? Was he just looking for something to do while he was bored or did he really mean what he had said before kissing her? Then Clary said something really, _really_ stupid.

"What are your intentions?" she blurted and immediately felt her cheeks burn.

At first Clary couldn't recognize the crooked shape of Jace's mouth, then she realized it was a smile. Then, to her shock, he burst out laughing. It was the first time Clary had ever seen him laugh, if she didn't count that sarcastic snickering thing he did as laughter...or when he did that mirthless laugh that sent chills down her spine. This was pure, jubliant laughter and it was beautiful and mortifying at the same time.

"My_ intentions_?" he exclaimed between breaths.

"It was just a question," Clary murmured bitterly. Jace laughed harder. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"_You!_ I don't know, just the way you said it. You sounded so serious. It was hysterical!"

"I _was _being serious! You were ontop of me like an animal at the zoo during feeding time!" Clary snapped.

Jace didn't seem to hear her. She waited furiously until he was done laughing. "Thank you. I can't even remember the last time I had a good laugh."

"Probably never," Clary muttered darkly. "I'll try and rephrase my question so that it's less amusing to you." Jace half smiled at the memory. "What you were saying before, about liking me more than you'd planned, is that true?"

Jace shrugged. "I guess it is."

"What did you mean by your feelings for me being an accident?"

_To love is to destroy,_ Jace heard a voice whisper in his head. He shuddered. "Look, Clary, I don't really know how I feel. I've never felt this way before."

"Neither have I," she admitted.

"Then just go along with it with me, ok?"

"Ok." Jace smiled again. "What?" Clary demanded.

"Nothing. Like I said just go along with it."

"Ok," Clary said shortly in an attempt to end the conversation.

"I think then I'll figure out why my _intentions_ are." Clary shoved him and he chuckled.

"You're a jerk!" she exclaimed, but his smile was contagious, and she found herself smiling as well.


	7. Chapter 6: Opening Up

**A/N: I realized that if Hodge was anything like his character is in TMI series I'd run into some plot holes. So I thought about just not having him in the story at all, but I already mentioned him in one of the earlier chapters and I'm a perfectionist so he's here to stay. In this story Hodge wasn't in the Circle and isn't cursed. He's just a sweet old man who reads and runs the Institute. You'd love him. **

Fallen Gold

Chapter 6: Opening Up

_"And I don't want the world to see me cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am." -The Goo Goo Dolls_

Jocelyn woke with a start. Sweat plastered her fiery hair to her temples. Her chest heaved with each breath she took. Unsure of where she was, Jocelyn quickly observed her surroundings. They immediately relaxed her, though panic was still tickling the back of her mind, as if letting her know that the surroundings were simply giving off the_ illusion_ of comfort, but danger was just around the corner.

She was sitting on a large bed with overstuffed plush pillows gathered behind her. The rug was soft and a deep red. On the dresser to her right she saw a myriad of art supplies; colored pencils, paint brushes, markers. The walls were covered with Bohemian-style paintings.

Panic surged through Jocelyn again. The room was the perfect mix of luxury and art. She slid off the bed. The rug was so soft on her bare feet that she sighed in relief. She padded over to the mirror and gasped. There was a large bruise on her cheek, but what she was wearing scared her more. Jocelyn felt so frail clad in a white lace nightgown. _Definitely_ not from her own closet. And the nightgown...

"Valentine," Jocelyn whispered, terrified as a wave of memory drowned her. Demons had broken into her house last night. She vaguely remembered Luke trying to help her and Clary...God, was Clary alright?

Jocelyn ran over to the door. It swung open and she yelped in surprise. Valentine shut the door behind him and locked it. "Whatever you want from me, Valentine, I swear you're not going to get it," Jocelyn snarled, surprisingly aggressive for a woman who looked so feminine in her thin nightgown.

Valentine's grin was sinister. A long sword protruded from a sheath at his waist. His eyes were two black holes that swallowed her. "I know, my dear," he said coolly, coldly. "That's why I'm not giving you a choice."

Jocelyn watched Valentine warily. "Where am I?"

"Surely you recognize your homeland of Idris. This is just a nice little manor I got myself, far away from Alicante, of course." His eyes were gleaming and his lip was curled. "Besides, I heard you had some business with the Clave recently. Tell me, Jocelyn, did you enjoy it when my son's life was ruined?" There was an unmistakeably bitter tone in his voice."

"Jace is not your son. I was-"

"He's as good as my son!" Valentine roared. "And you broke him. How could you?"

Jocelyn gritted her teeth. "I don't care what they say about Jace's Shadowhunting skills. If he grew up under your roof- if he's spent many years by your side- you've had to have a most horrible impact on him."

Valentine's grin was like curdled milk. "My dear, you've spent years by my side."

She raised her chin proudly. "I left the Shadowhunter world, didn't I?"

"Not without having two of my children. Sweet little Clarissa and...Jonathon. You remember Jonathon, don't you?"

If Valentine had beaten her, there would have been less damage done than his words. "Don't say that name," she shuddered.

He waved a dismissive hand. "No matter. I'm here to tell you about the future and my plans for it. It won't be a surprise for you to hear I'm forming a second army."

"They say history is important because we can learn from the past and learn not to repeat the same mistakes in the future."

Another malicious grin. "Which is exactly why it's taken me so long to act again. You see I'm not going to start this second war. The Downworlders are. It's very easy to trick those dimwits."

"How are you going to start a war when there's been peace for years? When the Accords are approaching?"

"You've obviously got to catch up with the latest news. Didn't you hear? A werewolf was killed in Times Square. Terrible tragedy. He was just so young."

"So you killed a werewolf? Big deal. Everyone knows you did it."

"Do they now? You know what's really funny about that? I didn't do it."

"Just get to the point," Jocelyn said with a roll of her eyes. "Stop playing games."

"My point is soon more Downworlders will die and they will at least be smart enough to know Shadowhunters are behind it. Downworlders from all over the world will be murdered from my army. I've already recruited so many Shadowhunters. The Cirlce has been revived and, if you want my opinion on the matter, it has been improved."

"So the Clave will track down your rotten army and then track down you. What exactly do you expect them to do?"

"What they always do. Wait around and pretend they actually have plans to fix things when in reality they have nothing. Besides, by the time the Clave finally does decide to act the Downworlders will be so furious with Nephilim a war will begin. Shadowhunters may not _want_to fight with Downworlders, but I'm going to make them."

"The Downworlders will be mad, but they'll know you're behind the killings. They'll know it's you and that will be enough to prevent this _wonderful _war you so desperately want to start."

"How will they know exactly? And even if they do find out they're not going to be too happy with the way the Clave will handle things. They're going to want to strike back and when they do shed Nephilim blood we'll strike back."

"So you're willing to let your own people die so that Downworlders can die as well?"

"Yes, my dear. But you see I will rule the Clave once my plan follows through."

Jocelyn shook her head in confusion. "How are those two things connected at all? And I am not 'your dear'," she added pettily.

"The Clave's army isn't all that powerful. They will be, more or less, evenly matched with the Downworlders. While the Downworlders weaken that army I will lead the Circle into Alicante, where we will invade the Clave. Then we will give them a simple choice- allow me to rule the Clave or die. Either way I will rule Idris."

"How can you be sure a war will start so soon?"

Chills raced down Jocelyn's back upon seeing Valentine's smile. "I'm not. That is why I'm just going to keep killing Downworlders until they strike back."

"You can't do this," Jocelyn said desperately even though she knew he could, and quite easily. Then, more to herself than to Valentine, she said, "Someone will stop you. Someone has to..._I'll _stop you. One way or another."

Valentine raised his eyebrows. "You don't think I just brought you here so I could find someone to brag to, do you? No, I have better plans for you."

"What do you think you're going to do with me?" Jocelyn said sharply, sounding much braver than she felt.

"I have a simple task for you. Jocelyn, I still love you dearly and I want you to be wife again. I want you to stand by my side as I rule Idris and maybe if you grow to acquire smarter values you can eventually help me."

Jocelyn felt a fire light inside her. "No, by the Angel. _No._ I would never make the biggest mistake of my life _twice_."

"That's hardly fair," Valentine said matter-of-factly. "If not for me you wouldn't have your precious Clarissa. Besides you might think differently if you see what I have."

_"What have you done with Clary?"_ she shrieked.

"Nothing. She's alive and well, but how quickly you always seem to forget about that loyal dog of yours. Do you even remember Lucian stopping by your place when I sent the demons after you?" Jocelyn swallowed. The sudden reminder of Luke was like a blow to the head. Valentine just looked at her knowingly. Valentine shook his head as if Jocelyn was deeply disappointing him. "And I thought you truly cared for this man in the way you once cared for me. Well, he's still a close friend. Follow me."

He spun on his heel and unlocked the door. Jocelyn followed him down the narrow, white hallway. "Where are we exactly?" she said.

Without looking at her, and more vaguely than she would have liked, he answered, "Miles away from Alicante, of course. I used runes to keep this house hidden from everyone else. It's a nice place, isn't it?"

Jocelyn scowled but couldn't answer. She was sick with worry. All she could do was try not to imagine all the horrible things Valentine could've done to Luke.

Valentine led Jocelyn out, behind the house. She could see the woods in the back and the mountains behind that. There was a stretch of grass that ended right before the edge of the woods. Valentine crouched down beside a flat wooden board that fit into the dirt. There was a metal handle on it. Valentine pulled the slab of wood open and there was a dirty set of stairs before her.

"After you," he said, with a welcoming swing of his hand. Jocelyn shook her head stubbornly and he chuckled. "I hope for her sake that our daughter did not inherit your horribly stubborness."

Clary had, and Jocelyn could probably name a hundred of Valentine's traits that would've been worse for Clary to have inherited, but she bit her tongue. Valentine descended the steps first and Jocelyn cautiously followed. The stairs were made of stone that had been worn down with time. The witchlight torches on the walls were the only source of light. At the bottom of the stairs Jocelyn could see cells lining the walls of the room. She felt a sinking feeling in her chest.

"Oh, Luke," she whispered.

"Right this way." Valentine led her to Luke's cell.

His arms were set into chains on the wall above his head. Jocelyn couldn't see his face because his head was bent, chin touching his chest and hair falling in a mess. His glasses were at his feet.

Jocelyn screamed. _"Luke!"_

"You couldn't even remember he was with you at the time. I don't really know if you have a right to care for him at all."

Jocelyn whirled around and fixed him with an intimidating glare. "Let him go, _now_."

"Or what? You'll hit me?"

Jocelyn immediately switched gears. "Fine. What do you want me to do to ensure his safety?"

"What did I just tell you? I've only ever loved you. I don't even want you to fight. I just want you to stay with me. Be my wife, my dear."

_You mean your property._ "How do I know you're not just going to kill him anyway?"

Valentine shrugged. "You don't, but try to escape and I'll make his death slow and painful. What do you say, Jocelyn? Be my lovely wife again?"

_Then I'll just have to break him out of here myself. Get Luke and then run. Far away._"Ok," she said numbly and shakily followed Valentine back upstairs.

* * *

The male Nephilim cleaned the blood from his blade as he headed for the Manhattan Institute. It was fun, killing Downworlders. It was kind of like what the mundanes called hunting. Shooting creatures for fun that weren't as important as they were, making it ok to shoot. That was how the young Shadowhunter viewed killing Downworlders. He'd purposely left a stele behind at one of the crime scenes. The Clave would know it was a Shadowhunter who went on a mass killing spree, and all would go according to plan.

The young boy discarded his old, blood stained gear, and threw on clean black leather. He grinned as he waited for someone to answer the door.

* * *

"Church, where's Hodge?" Clary asked on a rainy July afternoon as she spotted the cat curled up in the hallway. He stood up, stretched and yawned, but didn't walk. Clary rolled her eyes and scratched Church behind his ears. "Will you tell me_ now?"_

Church purred with satisfaction and trotted down the hall. Clary followed him to the library. "Of course. I should've figured that one out on my own." Church cocked his head to the side and gave her a pleading look. "Ok, ok." She scratched him again. "You are one spoiled cat." Church scurried off as the door abruptly opened from behind him. It was Alec. As usual, he was slouching self consciously.

"Clary!"

Clary blinked. "Hi."

"What are you doing?"

"I came to see Hodge...to see if the Clave informed him of anything about my mother," she added weakly, knowing having hope was only going to hurt her. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was just about to go find you. You might want to come inside."

Clary anxiously followed Alec into the library. Hodge was sitting at his polished desk. He looked stiff, as if any movement was a bad idea. Isabelle was sitting on one of the armchairs, back against one arm rest and long legs hanging off of the other one. She wasn't wearing boots, as she usually was. Her legs were bare and she wore a long, dark dress, raven-black hair braided down her back. She seemed very focused on playing with the transparent white beads of her bracelet. They both looked up when the other two came in and then glanced at each other.

"What? What's going on? Is it my mother? Is it Luke?"

"Clary...we have some bad news," Isabelle said slowly.

"What happened!" Clary cried in a panic. "What happened to them?"

"We have no update on your mother or Luke. This has nothing to do with them," Hodge said patiently.

"Yeah, I probably should've opened up with that," Isabelle quietly said to herself, gaze returning to her bracelet.

Clary felt a wave of overwhelming relief, but the fear of the Clave still not knowing where her family was made her dizzy. "Then what is it? It's not...Jace is it?" She didn't like bringing up Jace because their reactions always startled her. Clary could literally feel Alec stiffen behind her.

"We know nothing about Jace either," Isabelle said shortly. "Look, last night eight Downworlders were murdered."

_"Eight?"_

Isabelle counted off on her fingers as she went. "Three vampires, a werewolf, two warlocks, and two faeries."

Clary felt an icy flower blossom inside her chest as she let the information sink in. "My God, those poor Downworlders..."

"There's more," Isabelle said.

"I'm going to assume it's not a good 'more'."

"A stele was found near the body of the werewolf. The bodies of the faeries and warlocks were not drained, though that's not surprising because drinking their blood has some strange side effects. So no one has reason _not_to assume a rogue Shadowhunter is among us," Hodge explained.

"Valentine," Clary said immediately.

"Valentine is too smart for that. What kind of evil mastermind leaves his stele at the scene of the crime?" Alec said.

"Maybe he wants us to know it's him, but why?"

Alec shrugged.

"Jace might know," Isabelle whispered. Clary thought she heard Hodge inhale shakily.

"Shut it, Isabelle," Alec said sharply.

Isabelle swung her dangling legs so that her feet were resting on the floor. She fixed Alec with a sharp glare. "Oh, come on, Alec. Why should we deny it any longer? Jace knows Valentine better than anyone and the Clave is corrupt! They made a huge mistake when they removed Jace!"

"Isabelle, shut up!" Alec ordered.

Hodge rose from his seat. "That's enough from both of you!"

"Do _you _think the Clave was wrong?" Isabelle asked fiercely so that Hodge and Alec both looked startled.

"It does not matter what I think," Hodge said firmly. "The Clave removed Jace, and that is that. There is nothing we can do about it."

"So are we just never going to talk about it?" Isabelle snapped, her tone showing her displeasure.

"Precisely," Alec said shortly.

"Why?"

_"Because!"_ Alec cried, as if that was an answer, but from his pained expression Clary knew the rest of that answer. _Because it hurts too much._

Isabelle slouched into the armchair with a sunken expression. It hit Clary then how much Jace meant to Isabelle and Alec, and Hodge even. She felt both grateful and guilty that she was the one seeing Jace secretly. She wondered what they would say if she told them she'd been seeing him...that they'd kissed.

"What does the Clave think?" Clary asked after what she thought was a reasonable amount of time for them all to calm down.

"All the message said was that eight Downworlders were killed. I have no information on anything else," Hodge said, rubbing his tired eyes. "I don't know what they'll do."

"Have you heard from mom and dad?" Alec asked Hodge. The elder Lightwoods and their youngest child, Max, were in Idris.

"They're fine. Everything is fine, but they don't know when they're coming home yet."

As that conversation continued, Clary thought of what Isabelle said. Why would Jace know Valentine better than anyone else? The thought frightened her. She also realized that she could go to Jace and ask him about it. Maybe she would be of some use for once, and anyway this information would be useful to him as well.

Clary glanced at her watch, pretending she actually cared about the time. "I'm late. I was supposed to meet Simon half an hour ago. I'm going to take off."

The others nodded, acknowledging that they understood. It made her feel a little useless; they had so much on their minds' right now that they never even stopped to think about why Clary was visiting her friend after something important happened for the second time.

Clary had been gone for a while when a bell chimed loudly throughout the building. Isabelle threw her hands up in frustration. "Alec, get the door!" she cried in annoyance.

Alec shook his head. "That's your job."

The bell rang again. "Well, _one _of you better answer it," Hodge said.

Isabelle gave her brother an irritated- but not aggressive- shove and headed downstairs. "Can I help you?" she said to the male Shadowhunter, trying (and failing) to sound patient.

"Yes, I'm here on behalf of the Clave. I'm sure you heard the reports on the Downworlders?" the boy said smoothly.

Isablle leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed. "Why would the Clave send only one teenage boy?" she asked skeptically.

The boy chuckled. "Alright, you caught me. The Clave didn't send me. I came here from Idris on my own. I want to investigate the situation on my own."

"Who are you?"

The boy reached into his pocket and handed Isabelle an identification card. She glanced at it, then at the boy. "Alright, come on in." Then she winked at him flirtatiously. "I'm Isabelle Lightwood."

_Oh, I know who you are,_ the boy thought with a mental snicker. "Pleased to meet you." He held out a hand and she enthusiastically shook it.

"I love a boy with charm. Come on in, Sebastion."

* * *

When Jace answered the door for Clary she took one look at him and groaned. "Not again, Jace."

Jace grinned, knowing she was referring to the large bruise on his cheek and the dry, crusted blood bordering his right temple. "Jerk had it coming this time. I swear."

"One day you're going to get seriously hurt, turned into a vampire or something, and you know what? I won't even feel sorry for you because you _deserve_ it for picking fights!"

"You mean you won't pity me?" Jace said, feigning sadness. "Because you know how badly I need to be pitied."

"What does Kristy say when you come home like this?"

"Usually I don't get beaten too hard and the bruises and cuts can be hidden under my clothing. Hey, is there a record for the most amount of bars a single person has been kicked out of? Because if it's less than seven I win."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Let's just drop this conversation, ok?" Jace shrugged. He collapsed onto the couch and she sat next to him.

Kristy entered from the other room, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she walked. "Jace, I know you're a darling boy who wouldn't lie to me, but were you possibly stretching the truth this morning when you said you didn't leave the kitchen light on all night? Now don't think I'm accusing you of lying, sweetie," she said sarcastically. "I mean there are many other logical explanations as to why I found the light on this morning. For one I keep the window open and as you know animals are instinctively drawn to me like Snow White. So a bird could've flown into my apartment and maybe the little guy was looking for a snack and-"

"Take a _breath, _why don't you?" Jace snapped. "You should be used to interrogate prisoners because I'm telling you those guys will confess the moment you open your mouth."

"Oh, Clary! I didn't realize you were here. Sorry, Jace, didn't mean to embarrass you with your girlfriend here."

"Hey, Kristy," Clary said, getting used to her teasing her and Jace. Kristy was wearing bright pink sweatpants and a black band T-shirt. The shirt reminded her of Simon. "_The Offspring_?" she said.

Kristy looked down at her shirt and then smiled. "They named a song after me, didn't they?"

"If that song is about a grown woman who still watches _The Powerpuff Girls_, then yes. I'm sure they had you in mind the entire time," Jace said. When Kristy said things like that it was clear she was teasing, but with Jace, Clary wasn't so sure.

"I didn't get to watch cartoons as a kid!" Kristy shrugged and then said, "I'm going to the gym. Be back later."

"Don't you think you're kind of mean to her?" Clary said once she was gone. "She's nice, you know."

"She's lonely," Jace said matter-of-factly.

"She seems pretty independent to me, and anyway doesn't she have any family?"

"I don't really know. She's never really told me about her past."

"You think she's hiding something?"

"No, I never really asked her to open up to me about those things. I mean I don't exactly confide in her- not that I would if I could- and I think she doesn't tell me much because, well, last time she told me something things got ugly."

Clary nodded to show she understood and then yawned. "I feel so lazy today," she said. Outside it was hot and raining. The weather seemed to make her drowsy.

Jace seemed too distracted to hear her. He was running his hand up and down his arm. Clary realized he was tracing tiny, jagged white lines that ran across him.

"Are those scars from the runes you have?" she asked.

_"Had,"_ he corrected her bitterly.

"Sorry."

"And yes."

"I wish you would tell me what happened," she said quietly.

"I broke a law."

"I wish you would tell me what happened in a not vague way."

"It's a long story."

"I have plenty of time on my hands."

"Clary-"

"Isabelle said something really weird today. She said you of all people know Valentine better than anyone else...That's not true, is it?"

Jace said nothing, only looked away. He looked hurt and angry.

_"Jace?" _Clary cried. "Tell me it's not true!"

"More than anything I wish I could," Jace murmured.

"How do you know Valentine?"

"It's a long story."

"Does it have anything to do with the Clave removing your Marks?"

"You could say that."

"Tell me what happened," Clary said, tone pleading.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Please, Jace?" she said softly. "Please?"

"It's a horrible story," he said in an attempt to change her mind.

"That's ok," Clary said immediately. She knew it was his way of letting her know he was going to open up.

Jace was quiet for a long time. Finally, he sighed. "Ok, sit tight because it's long."

"So I've heard."

Jace paused again, searching for the right words. "I guess it started when I was walking through the city by myself one afternoon..."

**A/N: I guess that was an evil spot to cut off. Anyway my betareader won't be able to beta for the next two weeks so I'm looking for a temporary replacement if anyone is interested. Please review. **


	8. Chapter 7: Best of You

**A/N: Which is less confusing, reading the name Valentine while Jace thought it was Michael Wayland or reading Michael Wayland when it's actually Valentine? I ended up writing him as Valentine. Just to clear things up: Jace _now knows_ that Valentine was posing as his father but he_ thought_ it was Michael Wayland in this flashback.**

Fallen Gold

Chapter 7: Best of You

_"I've got another confession to make. I'm your fool. Everyone's got their chains to break, holding you. Were you born to resist or be abused?"-Foo Fighters_

_Six months earlier_

It was cold out, but Jace always had a high tolerance for pain. New York hadn't experienced any snow yet this January, but the wind was biting his finely structured face. Jace pulled the zipper on his black leather jacket all the way up and dug his hands into his pockets. Sometimes he just had to get away from the Institute for a while so that he could be alone. Sure, everyone would respect his privacy if Jace had just locked himself up in his room, but he was the kind of person who constantly needed to be in motion.

A favorite spot of his was Central Park, as long as it wasn't at night. So as Jace strolled through it that cloudy afternoon something happened that he certainly would never had expected. Maybe it was because Jace had been staring at his boots, the edge of the left one scuffed, or maybe it was because he had obtained some sort of scary teleporting superpower, but Jace hadn't seen Valentine until he'd looked up and found the man standing right in front of him.

Jace nearly jumped a foot backward, and hated himself for doing so. "Father!" he exclaimed.

Valentine didn't look any different than how Jace had remembered. He had the same white-as-snow hair and hollow black eyes. Five years and nothing. No note, no visits, no candy gram. He wondered what the note would say if he even sent one. He could picture his father scribbling a note as fast as he could on a torn piece of paper, as if it was a pain to take time out of his busy day to write to his embarrassment of a son.

_Hey, Jonathon. You still disappoint me to no end, but at least you have some other family to give a crap about you. After your departure I adopted a new, better son from Japan. He's a ninja and way more of a bad ass than you. I also don't have to deal with that whole "compassion" thing when he's around. We're going fishing this weekend. Anyway have a nice life. Love, Daddy._

He had been imagining this day, wondering if it would ever even happen or if his father wanted nothing to do with Jace ever again. He couldn't even guess what his father would say.

"Jonathon, I'm very sorry."

Jace's jaw dropped. That was probably last on the list. Maybe second to last; right under "You're not as useless as I thought you were" and above "I've decided to compete in a beauty pageant".

"F-father?" was all Jace could stutter. Weakness was not a close companion of his, but it always seemed to be on his trail in Valentine's presence. He felt two inches tall.

Valentine ran his hand through Jace's hair with a sort of detached affection. "Can we sit down?"

"But what?...Ok." Jace shuffled behind his father as he led him to a bench in the park. Jace stared at his hands in his lap, waiting for his father to say something.

"I hear you're quite the Shadowhunter."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Does it matter?"

Jace shuddered. He'd forgotten where he'd picked up on the habit of answering a question with a question.

"I'm so proud of you, Jonathon." Ok, _that _was last on the list.

"Really?" Jace asked, because he didn't know what else he could say.

Valentine's genuine expression was both startling and intimidating. "Of course. How could I not be? All these years I thought you were so weak. I told myself you'd never be the Shadowhunter I'd hoped you would become, and I am ashamed and wonderfully delighted to see how you've proven me wrong."

Jace, for once, was speechless. It was like someone had dug deep inside his head and pulled out his wildest, most thought out, fantasy. This exact scenario was something Jace had always imagined in his head. He pictured his father seeking him out. Sometimes Valentine would knock on the door of the Institute and demand to see his son. Sometimes Valentine would write a note and have Jace return home to Idris where he would be greeted with open arms and the apology he'd always wanted, but never expected, to hear. Whether it was at the Institute or in Idris or on the moon, Valentine always said the same two phrases one way or another. _"I'm sorry,"_ and _"I'm proud of you." _

One of the two sentences would've been enough for Jace, but the fact that his father had actually said both meant the world to him. His acceptance, his love, was something he'd always yearned for. He never spoke of his father at the Institute, and the Lightwoods didn't dare ask about him. The situation had been complicated. They'd thought he'd been sent there for his own protection because it wasn't safe in Idris after Valentine's alleged death. Jace's father had told him to go along with this idea, and by the time Jace was old enough to realize he didn't have to obey that order he was too embarrassed to tell the Lightwoods that his father had only sent him away because he was ashamed of him.

"I am here to ask you for your help. I need a Shadowhunter who is both strong and smart, and I am honored to have my son be the one I need."

"What do you need help with?"

Valentine spoke casually. His voice sounded cultured and proper, just as Jace remembered. "You're probably wondering where I've been the past few years. I actually have done quite a lot of traveling. It has been a while since I've seen our homeland of Idris. I've been all over Europe. The demon population there has grown astronomically."

Jace blinked. "You would think I would have heard about something like that." Maybe a less vulnerable, more careful Jace would've been more skeptical about this, but standing in front of his own personal miracle, he was unable to think as rationally.

Valentine went on as if Jace hadn't said a word. "I stayed there a while to perform the task the great Angel assigned to us Shadowhunters. I hunted as many demons as I could. However, the demons there are only getting stronger and there are more demons now than ever. The world is filthy now, Jonathon, probably more filthy than it ever has been. It's up to people like you and me to clean it up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

"I would like you to help me now. I'm going to ask you to do something that is not easy, but necessary. Do you think you can do this?"

"Yes, Father," Jace said immediately, and only after did he think maybe he should've figured out what it was his father wanted him to do before agreeing so quickly.

"The weapons I have on me I've been using on powerful demons. They're worn out and some are broken. I need new weapons. I understand the Institute you live at possess weapons that are in excellent shape."

"Well, yeah, but how did you find out about that?"

Jace suddenly regretted saying that. The look Valentine gave him was one he recognized. As a child, when Valentine glowered at him, eyes black as night and lip curled, it usually meant Jace had said something extremely disrespectful. Usually this would be followed by a crack across the face.

"You're being unbearably ignorant, Jonathon. Institutes are all around the world, not just here. They have information about each other so that if a Shadowhunter wants to transfer to a different one he can be provided with all the information necessary for his trip. As I was saying I need new weapons to fight off the vulgar demons that inhabit this earth."

"But why not just go to the Idris and-"

"Have you been listening to a word I've said?" Valentine hissed dangerously.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Valentine said, shaking his head in frustration._ Wrong, wrong wrong, _Jace thought to himself. "I specifically stated that the weapons here in New York are the ones I need to defeat the demons. Do you think you could bring them to me? Not all of them of course. A dagger or two, a handful of seraph blades, some steles..."

"I guess so. I just don't know if Maryse and Robert would go for it. I mean the weapons are the property of the Institute..." Jace said because something about giving weapons to Valentine didn't feel right. It wasn't just the thought that he was technically stealing from the Institute.

"No, no," Valentine said firmly. "You must not let the Lightwoods know I am borrowing these weapons."

"I can't bring these weapons to you."

"And why is that?"

Jace paused. Telling Valentine the Lightwoods were like family to him would make him seem weak. "Because...it's stealing!"

Valentine looked at Jace seriously. "The Clave has stolen from us, Jonathon. They have stolen from us our right to follow the path the Angel has set for us. Because of the Accords, because of their foolish Law, we cannot carry out Raziel's wishes."

"Are you talking about Downworlders? Because if you are-"

"I'm not talking about all Downworlders. Just the ones who need to be exterminated. Everyday vampires turn innocent mundanes. Everyday faeries cause mischief and manipulate their victims."

"The Clave has laws that punish the ones who do that."

Valentine shook his head. "It is not enough. It is not working. The Law is supposed to be a deterrent, but has failed to do so. How much longer must we allow Downworlders to do these terrible things before someone puts a stop to it? The Clave has failed to scare Downworlders into putting behind their wicked ways and many Downworlders either get away with it or are let off easy.

"Jonathon, we're special, you and I. Strong Shadowhunters like us are meant to go against the Law, to destroy the Downworlders who bring the world into chaos. We are Nephilim. We cannot change our fate.

"I work hard everyday, Father. I go out and kill demons. I protect people. I'm doing my job."

"How exhausting it must be, to go day after dreary day killing demons only to discover that many more enter our world immediately after. But what is being done to protect us from Downworlders? The manipulative Fairfolk? The rogue Nightchildren? The warlock who can send us into a deep, painful, torture with a flick of his wrist? The werewolves with their incredible speed?"

The confusion made Jace dizzy. "So you're just going to hunt Downworlders who commit crimes?"

"No, Jonathon. I'm going to kill Downworlders who commit crimes and_ get away with it_."

"Will you report them to the Clave?"

"Would you?" Valentine asked and that was all the answer Jace needed. The Clave, in his father's opinion, was always much too lenient with their punishments. "If you can do this for me then you will have proved to me how wrong I truly was."

_Approval. _That was all Jace had ever wanted in life. Jace started to head toward the Institute, but then turned around to face Valentine again. "Father?...Where are you going after I give these weapons to you?"

"I'm going to settle in Idris for now. I need to rest. It has been a long trip and I miss my home."

"I could come with you if you want," Jace offered.

"I ask you to leave me be for now. I'm not so sure the Lightwoods would appreciate it if you take off in the middle of the night like that. I need to settle down and figure out where to attack next. Once I do I'd like you to come with me."

Jace gaped. "You would?"

"Why not? It's as much your responsibility as it is mine to carry out the Angel's wishes."

Jace nodded and headed toward the Institute. It didn't matter that he wasn't so sure his father was actually following the Angel's request, or that he wasn't so sure he even agreed with his ways of handling the Downworlders. All that mattered was that his father wanted to be with him.

"I'll go right now, Father." And so he did.

Jace carefully sneaked into the weapons room, running into Alec and being forced to have a quick conversation with him on the way there, and swiped as many weapons as he could into a single duffel bag. He scurried to the elevator and was out of the Institute within half an hour.

"Of course," Valentine said, as he searched through the weapons carefully, "you must not tell a soul that I was here. Though these weapons are technically stolen so I doubt you would be foolish enough to."

"I stole," Jace said aloud, just to get a feel of what it sounded like. Was he criminal? He sure didn't feel like one at the moment.

"You stole for the benefit of mankind. You stole for your father. You've humbled me, my son. I've never been more obligated to admit I was wrong. I beg you for your gracious forgiveness."

Jace basked in the moment. "I forgive you," he said.

"Good. I will contact you at a later date."

"Bye, Father." Jace headed back to the Institute.

A week went by and Jace had not heard from his father. He was ok with that, though, because he hadn't exactly been given a specific time and date. Jace just hoped he would hear from his father soon. After that meeting Jace seemed to be drawn toward Central Park. He liked to take walks there more often now.

No one had noticed the missing weapons, but that was only because there were so many of them and Jace had only taken a handful. Not that this made a difference. It was the principle of the matter. He couldn't honestly say he felt guilty. He cared about the Lightwoods and if he had the choice between getting the weapons somewhere else or stealing them of course he wouldn't have stolen. But Jace did not honestly feel like a criminal at all. Maybe it was because his stealing was imperative in order to achieve the end result he'd desired. _Now I'm starting to sound like my father, _Jace mused. The thought unsettled him a bit.

He was making his way through a gathering of trees in the park that afternoon when suddenly Jace fell forward. If not for the pressure on his back-and the fact he was wearing boots-Jace would've thought he'd tripped over his shoelace. He stumbled on his feet and fell to the ground, tasting dirt and surely bruising his chin. The pressure on his back was growing stronger. Jace couldn't move his body but turned his head around to see a large, shaggy haired werewolf glowering at him through slitted eyes.

_"Crap," _Jace murmured, reaching into his belt for a blade. He heard the werewolf give a deep growl from the throat.

"That's enough of that," he heard someone say. "Off of him now, Lucian."

The werewolf glared at Jace one last time and then stepped off him. Jace exhaled a strained breath and lifted his head to see a man standing before him. He was very tall, probably a little over six feet, with brown hair sprayed with bits of silver and steel gray eyes. His skin was pale and he wore a black hooded robe with rune marks at the cuffs and hem.

"Valentine is not in Idris, or at least no one has spotted him. We've also had Shadowhunters search all of New York several times and they've yet to see him. How do I know you're not lying to me, Lucian?"

"What's going on?" Jace demanded.

The werewolf transformed into a man with deep blue eyes and glasses. His human form was much kinder than his fierce werewolf form. "The Morgensternboy is here, is he not?" Luke barked. He pointed an accusatory finger at Jace.

Jace felt sick. _The _Morgenstern_ boy? They think I'm Valentine's son! _

"Well, I still need proof that your theory is true."

Finally, Jace spoke up. "Look, I think there's been a mistake-"

"I think _you've _just made a mistake," The Inquisitor interrupted sharply. He looked disgusted with the sight of Jace. "You, boy, are possibly in very deep trouble. I suggest you don't say another word unless I ask of you to do so."

"But there's been a mistake," Jace went on stubbornly. "See, I am definitely _not _Valentine's son. My name is Jace Wayland. You know? Michael Wayland's son. The awesome Shadowhunter with great hair?"

_"Silence!" _The Inquisitor shouted. He studied Jace carefully through slitted eyes. "Let me see that ring on your finger."

"What? Why? It's just the Wayland family ring. Is there a special someone you're thinking of giving this to? Because if you are-"

_"Give me the ring!"_

Jace glared at the Inquisitor, but slid the metal ring off his finer. The Inquisitor examined it and smiled. It was not a kind smile. It looked like he was delighted at the sight of a puppy drowning.

"It's the Wayland family ring," Jace repeated defensively.

"No, this is the _Morgenstern_ family ring."

"Of course it isn't! Look at it. There's a W on the ring for-" Jace stopped before the Inquisitor even spoke. He knew what he was going to say anyway.

"Turn that W upside down and you have an M, as in Morgenstern."

Somewhere, someone had to be laughing at him. This had to be a trick. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Jonathon Morgenstern, you're coming with me to Idris."

_Now _Jace felt like a criminal.

**A/N: Jace's downfall will continue in the next chapter. Lol. Please review. I'm happy to say that I've actually managed to keep my updates on time even with my busy schedule after all.**


	9. Chapter 8: My World

Fallen Gold

Chapter 8: My World

_"Welcome to my world. Where everyone I ever need always ends up leaving me alone. Another lesson burned and I'm drowning in the Ashes. Kicking, screaming," -Sick Puppies_

Jace felt his palms sweat as he gripped both sides of the chair he was sitting on. It's funny how life can throw curve balls at you like this. One minute he was in Central Park, fetching weapons for the father he hadn't seen in years, the next he was shipped off to Idris- the homeland he hadn't seen in years- and being questioned by the Inquisitor who had the crazy idea that he was Valentine's son!

Returning to Idris hadn't exactly been the happy reunion Jace would've expected after being away for so long. He'd been marched straight to the Gard in Alicante and taken into a small room that made him feel claustrophobic. The room had a smooth, polished wooden desk and wooden floor. The walls were white and there was only one window to Jace's right. The Inquisitor sat behind the desk, glowering down at Jace. There was a painting of the city of Alicante above the desk- the glass towers shimmered in the picture. The frame it was placed in had tiny black runes bordering it.

"Jonathon," the Inquisitor continued, "I know you don't want to talk, but we're going to get the truth out of you eventually. And if I hear you say you're Michael Wayland's son one more time you're in trouble. Michael Wayland is dead. He's been dead for many, many years."

"Why are you so determined to believe I'm _Valentine's son?_" Jace snapped. "Maybe the ring is a bad sign but you can't accuse me of something like that just because I was wearing it!"

The Inquisitor folded his hands on the desk. Jace had never liked Inquisitor Ricky Williams and this situation wasn't exactly changing that. "Last week on the sixteenth of January at precisely two in the afternoon a pack of werewolves spotted you handing weapons over to none other than Valentine Morgenstern. They reported this to me. Before we went to New York to fetch you the Clave called an emergency meeting and sent spies all over Manhattan and Idris to track Morgenstern down and nobody found any sign of him. We would've dealt with you sooner but this was an emergency. For years we all thought Valentine was dead, but everyone knew there was a possibility he was alive."

"Just like lycanthropes," Jace said with a sneer. "They claim to see someone as horrible as Valentine in the middle of Central Park and don't even attack. They just scurry off and, as usual, expect Shadowhunters to solve all their pathetic problems. By the Angel, they make me sick."

"According to Lucian he was only with his second and third in command when they spotted you. Meaning, there were only three of them. You can't expect them to ambush Valentine if they value their lives'." The Inquisitor glared at Jace. "Not everybody is as willing to throw themselves in front of a moving train as you are, Jonathon. Don't think I haven't heard stories about you. They say you're a skilled Shadowhunter, but I think you're a damn fool."

"I don't know about that. I managed to trick everyone into thinking I was a Wayland for the past fifteen years. I think I'm pretty damn clever," Jace said with every ounce of sarcasm as he could.

The Inquisitor chose to ignore this. "As I was saying before, we tried to track Valentine down but found nothing. For a while we thought the alleged spotting of Valentine was nothing more than a trick of the mind but to prove their point to us all the pack, led by Lucian Graymark, tracked you down to prove to us that you were Valentine's son. They claimed to have heard him refer to you as his son several times and the ring on your finger provides valuable evidence for the Clave. So they called on me to bring you here to Idris to question you properly.

"Members of the Clave also investigated the Institute for missing weapons today. After doing a full inventory count with Mr. and Mrs. Lightwood they found that indeed weapons are missing. So far they've counted two steles, five seraph blades, and a dagger."

Jace felt sick. Even if he did prove he was really Jace Wayland, he'd still be punished for stealing weapons from the Institute. Why hadn't he thought this through? Sweat began to pour down his back and made his tawny hair stick to his forehead. For all the nerves he had he certainly didn't show it. To the Inquisitor he looked as calm as ever. "So the werewolves decided to let Valentine get away? To not chase him down and see where he ran off to?"

"As I said before there were only three werewolves and Valentine knows better than anyone how to kill a Downworlder. He also isn't afraid to do it...but you already know that," he added sharply.

"If they were spying on us they should've known he was unarmed and an easy target," Jace pointed out. "He told me he needed new weapons and that his old ones were broken or worn out."

"The werewolves hadn't spotted you and Valentine until you were already handing the weapons over, weapons used specifically to kill demons and Downworlders like themselves."

"Except that the man they'd seen was Michael Wayland! My father! Look I don't know what their plan was but those werewolves obviously have something against me. They wanted to get me in trouble. If you had seen the man you'd know he wasn't Valentine. He was just my father. Are you going to trust them- Downworlders- over me, Nephilim? Your own kind?"

"Lucian is a good, honest man. He was a member of the Circle before he was Changed so he would know who Valentine is better than anyone. He also hates Valentine and wouldn't play games with the Clave. You are not to be trusted. You are the son of Valentine Morgenstern."

"I'm _not!_"

"Well, it hasn't been proven yet, but I believe it to be true. This discussion is over. The Clave would like a word with you now. They want to get all the information they can from you."

"Well, forget it because they're not getting a word from me."

"You're going to disobey the Clave?"

"Yes, I am."

The Inquisitor was clearly losing his temper but that didn't intimidate Jace at all. If anything, it made him feel stronger. "And what do you want me to say to the Clave when I tell them you are not going to speak with them?" he asked, his voice shaking under the calm tone.

Jace smirked. "You can tell the Clave I said they can go screw themselves."

The Inquisitor pounded his fists onto the desk. Jace could see his temples throbbing. "That's all the proof I need from you, Jonathon! That mouth is clearly a filthy product of Valentine! Guards!" he called.

The door swung open and two guards entered. They both took one of Jace's arms and pulled him from his seat. "Get your hands_ off _me!" Jace shouted furiously, kicking his legs in protest.

One of the guards removed a dagger from his belt and held it up to Jace. "Shut your mouth, kid, or I'll slice it open."

Jace shout his mouth, but his glare was murderous. The guards led him through a narrow corridor and half-pushed him down a set of stairs. They led him through the dungeons and opened up an empty cell.

"Maybe a night here will help you remember who you really are," the one who had pulled out a dagger said with a chuckle. He pushed Jace so harshly he fell to the floor, bruising his knees. He heard the lock click and the guards exiting behind him.

"Hey, there's a kid in here!" a scratchy voice said.

Jace's eyes darted to the cell across from him where a heap of rags sat. The man was looking at him through shadowed eyes. In fact every cell looked similar. Imprisoned Shadowhunters and Downworlders- filthy and malnourished- staring at him through metal bars. These were_ criminals _and Jace was about to spend the night with them for company.

_What did I get myself into?_

* * *

To his surprise, Jace had dozed off a bit. He hadn't thought he'd be able to sleep in such uncomfortable conditions, but the physical and emotional exhaustion of the day had taken its toll on the boy. When he awakened he found himself huddled in the corner of the cell. His back was extremely sore from leaning up against the cement wall and his knees were hugged against his chest.

Jace moved his head away from the wall and felt a wave of dizziness take over. He looked around but his vision was blurry. Blinking several times, Jace cleared his sight. The dizziness seemed to subside as well. He shook the dirt that was layering his hair out. Jace stood up. His knees quivered and he sat down again. It's not like he had anywhere particular he needed to go.

"So you're saying no decisions have been made yet?" a voice from down the corridor said. Jace knew in an instant this was the voice of Robert Lightwood.

"And he claims to not know anything about Valentine Morgenstern?" another voice, this one cool and utterly detached, asked. This was undeniably the voice of Maryse.

Jace scurried to the front of his prison cell and stared as far down the corridor as he could see. Maybe the Lightwoods were here to break him out of here. Maybe they'd take him home. They came down the corridor and approached his cell. A guard was escorting them.

Judging from the way they were looking at him, Jace had a feeling he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

The Lightwoods stared at him. Maryse clasped a hand over her mouth. "Could we have a moment alone with him?" Robert asked the guard in a quiet tone. He nodded warily and walked down the corridor. If he'd been in the mood for humor Jace would've pointed out that considering they were in a prison, this wasn't a moment alone.

"Maryse, Robert," Jace said, his throat dry. He yearned for water. "You have to talk to them. They think I'm Valentine's son. They think I stole weapons from the Institute and gave them to Valentine! You have to talk to them." The desperation in Jace's voice wasn't too evident. The Lightwoods could hear it though, because they'd known him so long. The slight strain in his voice was really controlled desperation.

Maryse inhaled shakily. "How long have you known, Jace?" she whispered.

"Known what?" Jace said, praying and hoping that she wasn't going to say what he thought she'd say.

"That you were his son, Jace!"

Once Jace, Alec, and Isabelle were chasing a demon. This demon had long legs that acted as a spring. It could jump farther and higher than anything. The three of them had chased the demon all across Manhattan. It climbed up a tall tree that towered over them. Isabelle and Alec warned Jace against it, but the boy had chased the demon into the tree- climbing with that unbelievable strength and speed they'd seen him unleash many times before.

Jace had pulled out his seraph blade. He carefully crawled across a thin limb that towered over the city. He placed the blade in his mouth, gritted it between his teeth, and used both hands to inch himself closer to the demon that had settled itself on the edge of the branch.

Right as Jace had gone for the finishing blow the small demon leaped off the branch and higher into the tree. Jace's body fell forward and he quickly wrapped his arms around the branch to steady himself. All would have gone well had the demon not leaped back onto the branch, snapped it in half with its knife-like claws, and then sprung off the branch again with lightning fast speed.

Of course, what goes up must come down. The shock of the demon's clever actions and the unbearable feeling of falling into the unknown had paralyzed Jace's mind. Unable to think he was just falling stories below. Jace couldn't bear to look down and see the hard cement he'd hit. A mixture of him collecting himself together in time to break the fall and Alec and Isabelle helping him land safely gave Jace the lucky break he'd needed. But Jace knew he'd never forget that feeling. The feeling of free falling with nothing to grab before hitting the bottom. The fear of not knowing or being able to see where he was going, the feeling that any second he'd hit the ground and it'd hurt.

Compared to what he felt now, that moment was the equivalent of falling onto a mattress. Hanging onto the edge of a cliff above jagged rocks, all Maryse and Robert had to do was give a slight push.

"You mean you don't _believe_ me?" he asked, swallowing the panic before he said it. The panic was still there, swirling inside his chest and burning his heart. "Where are Alec and Isabelle? Max?" he asked, desperate for someone to be on his side.

"They're here, Jace, but I told them we wanted to talk to you alone tonight," Maryse said. "Now, you need to tell us everything you know."

"About _what?_" Jace barked. He clenched his teeth so tightly a sharp pain raced through them. When neither Lightwood said a word he continued. "About how I've been lying to you all these years about being Valentine's son? I was ten when Valentine sent me to you! Do you really think I was that good a liar then?"

"Valentine was very manipulative. We're not saying he's your father, Jace. We spoke with the Clave today and from the evidence they have, well, it seems likely," Robert explained and in response to the boy's horrified expression, "No one is accusing you of anything yet. We're just saying that we're going to be cautious for now, Jace. "

Jace turned away from the front of the cell, feeling rotten with the poison of their betrayal. "Then I have nothing to say to you," he said numbly.

"Jace," Robert tried, but he wouldn't even look at him.

"Come on, Robert. We'll try again tomorrow," Maryse said firmly.

Jace didn't watch them leave, just heard their footsteps' click down the corridor. He pulled on the roots of his hair until they burned with strain, and then fell into a fit-full sleep filled with dreams of adults who pushed him around, scolded him, beat him, and then left him for dead. After all, Jace had never met an adult who'd done otherwise. This was the world he lived in.

When Jace woke up the next morning he immediately shut his eyes again. He didn't want to greet the day. He just wanted to sleep for the next ten years and then wake up. Maybe things would be better when he was twenty-five. Maybe it'd be easier to defend himself and people would probably have forgotten all about him if he'd been asleep ten years. He could wake up and start over new.

_"Jace," _Isabelle whispered quietly. _"Jace, wake up."_

Jace refused to open his eyes, even though he actually wanted to see his adoptive sister. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. Jace preferred sleeping for ten years to seeing Isabelle.

"Jace, I know you're awake! Just come here!" Isabelle snapped.

Reluctantly, Jace opened his eyes. However, he made no attempt to move to the front of his cell and greet Alec and Isabelle.

"Hey, sexy girl, why the bad temper?" a scratchy voice said. Jace looked to see it came from a heap of rags residing in the cell across from him and one over to his left. "I love a girl with a fire lit under her." He gave a laugh that disgusted Jace.

Had his sister been anyone but Isabelle Lightwood, Jace would've jumped to her defense. Isabelle whirled around and said, "You better pray you rot in that prison cell, jerk, because if they ever let you out I swear I'll make sure you wish you had by the time I'm through with you." She turned back to Jace with a cool expression, as if nothing had happened. Behind her, Jace could see the prisoner grin even wider.

Both Lightwood siblings were dressed in traditional Shadowhunting gear. Isabelle had half her black hair pulled back, held in place with a large, glittery clip. Alec had his hands shoved in his pockets. The boy couldn't seem to look Jace in the eyes.

"Are you ok?" Alec asked kindly.

Jace opened his mouth, sarcastic response waiting to shoot, but realized he wasn't in the mood for sarcasm. He just didn't have it in him that day. The Clave was going to speak with him, and he had a feeling they weren't going to let him off easy for stealing. And stealing for Valentine? Jace couldn't even think about what would happen if that was proven. "Not really," he said, expressionless.

"Mom and Dad told us everything," Alec said.

Jace decided to go with sarcasm after all over saying something bad about their mother and father. "Glad you're all caught up," he said dryly. He stared at his hands, caked with dirt, to avoid seeing the pity in Alec's eyes.

"Is it true? Are you really Valentine's son?"

Jace's head jerked back up to look at him. "Who wants to know?"

"Jace, wait! I didn't mean it that way. I know why you're upset. Mom and Dad. They're not listening to you, I know, but I'm willing to listen."

"I'm not his son," Jace said under his breath quietly. "I'm not his son."

"How sure are you of that?" Isabelle asked, earning herself a glare from Jace.

"Positive, Isabelle," he said sharply.

"It's just that," Alec paused, searching for the right words, "what Mom and Dad told us makes you sound like you could be his son. I'm not saying you're some kind of spy for him or anything. I'm just saying that maybe, just _maybe,_ you are Valentine's son, but you just didn't know it."

"Am I the only person here who finds this accusation completely crazy?" Jace exclaimed. "How does someone go through an entire life not knowing he's the son of Valentine Morgenstern?"

"The ring, Jace. The Clave has proven it's the Morgenstern, and not the Wayland family ring. It has the symbol of the Wayland family on it," Isabelle said sadly.

"So because of a ring, I'm suddenly the son of an evil killer?_ That's _all the evidence they need?"

"No, of course not! Nobody knows anything yet, Jace!" Alec cried. "That's why they're trying to get you to cooperate! The faster you stop being an ass and just listen to what other people tell you to do for once the faster you can get out of here...or-"

"Or the faster I find out I'm actually Valentine's son?" Jace finished for him. He was beginning to believe there was a chance this could be true.

"Yeah, that," Alec said with a sigh.

No one said anything. After thinking some things over Jace broke the silence. "If I am Valentine's son will you two, well you know..."

"Will we still have your back? Of course, Jace. You're our brother; whether you're a Wayland or surprisingly Valentine's son or whatever," Isabelle said.

Alec nodded in agreement. "You're not alone as long as we're around," he added.

"Ok," Jace said, feeling a little less vulnerable.

* * *

Matthew O'Rourke, the Consul, took a seat at the head of the large, circular table. His hair was bright and red against his pale skin, which was nearly swallowed of all color against his dark blue, nearly black, robes. Above him the gold chandelier- brilliantly colored as it hung above a room with pure white marble walls- twinkled and winked at him. The Clave sat at the round table. Jace was seated at the table as well, all eyes on him. For all the pressure he was feeling at the moment, the Shadowhunter certainly didn't show it. His expression was completely stoic.

The Lightwoods and the man Jace recognized as Lucian were standing next to the table, as if as spectators for the event.

The doors swung open. Everyone turned to see the Inquisitor enter. His expression was set. He marched proudly-robes flowing at his feet- as if he was leading an army. He held something small above his head, like one holds a trophy for all to see.

When the Inquisitor came closer Jace realized he was holding a photograph. He smacked it on the table infront of Jace, who spared the picture a brief glance before looking up at the Inquisitor and saying, "What? Is this a photo from your favorite scrapbook?"

The Inquisitor's mouth twitched. "This is an old photograph of the original members of the Circle. In it you will find both Michael Wayland and Valentine Morgenstern. You want to prove to us whose child you really are? Simply point to the man who is your father, the man you were giving weapons from the Manhattan Institute to."

"Really, Ricky, can't we do this properly?" the Consul said with a roll of his eyes.

The Inquisitor folded his arms. "And what's your definition of properly? Arguing with the boy for the next two hours? We have more important matters to attend, including the possibility of having to hunt down Valentine Morgenstern, and I want to get this smart mouthed brat out of the way as quickly as possible."

The Consul glared, clearly not pleased with being told what to do, but gave in. "Very well. Look at the photograph, boy, and point out your father."

Jace swallowed, feeling dread rise within him for some strange reason. He glanced at the Inquisitor. "I don't have to prove anything to you," he snapped. For some reason he'd rather argue it out. He looked to the elder Lightwoods. "Tell them you know I'm Jace Wayland!"

"Jace," Maryse's voice was cold as ice, as he had always known it. What scared him, though, was that he thought he heard it quiver ever so slightly. "Do as they say."

He shot Maryse a look. _You betrayed me_, it said. He looked at the photo and could see all eyes were on him out of the corner of his own eyes. He felt intimidated and had a strange urge to point to anyone _but_ his father.

Was there a possibility he was Valentine's son after all? _No, the Lightwood's would've never taken me in then...unless they never knew, _a voice in his head teased him. And didn't his father believe in nearly everything Valentine did? _That's because he was in the Circle! He'd told you he was in the Circle! And his views aren't as extreme. Now pull yourself together, Wayland, and point out your father. _

Jace spotted his father right away, though he looked much younger. In his arms he held a beautiful young woman with red hair. Jace had to stop and stare at her, just for a moment. There was something about her that intrigued him, even in the picture. For some reason he felt an immediate connection to her.

"Here. This is him," Jace said without confidence as he pointed to the man he'd always known as his father. The members of the Clave leaned in to see where Jace had pointed his slender finger.

Several members gasped, but the Consul's face was taken over by a grin that was devoid of any joy. "That," said the Inquisitor, "is Valentine Morgenstern."

Jace gasped. Hushed whispers circled the table. He looked to the Lightwoods. Maryse was drained of all color. Robert looked just plain sick.

"_What? _No. He can't be. He's-he's...I'm _Jace Wayland!_" he finally shouted. He suddenly felt as if he was having one of those nightmares where everything that could possibly go wrong in life went wrong. Jace shut his eyes and then opened them again, but the scene wouldn't go away; the Clave still staring at him in horror and shock. His mind started reeling.

The obvious repsonse came soon enough. Jace collected himself quickly. "So let's say I'm Valentine's son. Now what? You're going to arrest me? Under what charge? There's no crime for being related to someone!"

The Consul looked furious, as if Jace had talked back to him again. "No, but for stealing weapons and giving them to him, well, that's a crime."

"I didn't give weapons to Valentine! I gave them to my father!"

"Did you give weapons to the man you pointed to in that picture, boy?" the Consul snapped, rising in his seat.

"Well yes, but-"

"Then you gave them to Valentine Morgenstern! You see your father-"

_"He's_ not _my father!"_

"That's enough," the Inquisitor said calmly. "Jocelyn is here."

The doors opened and Jace recognized the tall redhead in the picture. She was older, but still beautiful. It seemed that time had hardened her though. She looked so serious, no longer the carefree woman he saw in the picture. Her boots clicked on the white marble floor as she walked. Jace noticed she was not in any Shadowhunter gear.

The Consul looked to the two guards standing on either side of him. "Take the boy back, please. We can't properly listen to Mrs. Morgenstern with him throwing another childish fit."

"I'd appreciate it if you called me Ms. Fairchild," the woman said calmly.

Jace was about to protest, but knew he would just be proving the Consul right. Instead he silently allowed the guards to take him away. He looked to the Lightwoods as they leaded him out. They looked at him sadly, but said nothing. There was a hint of anger in Maryse's dark eyes. Jace had never thought of the Lightwoods as anything other than his mother and father, now he wasn't so sure about that. He wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Jace was prepared to spend hours in the cell, but as he walked by Ms. Fairchild and toward the door, she spoke. "Let the child stay here. There is much he does not know."

Boy, child, even brat. It seemed no one around here knew his name._My name is Jace._ "My name is Jace," he said, surprised that he'd actually said it aloud. His voice was soft, almost in a tired sort of way.

Jocelyn looked at him, her expression grim. It was-in a weird way-somewhat of a relief for Jace. She didn't look angry with him, or horrified by the sight of him. She just looked bleak, with a sad sort of shine in her emerald eyes. "I know who you are. In fact I know a lot about your childhood that you do not know yourself."

And this time-for once-Jace had the sense to listen.

**A/N: Oh, boy. I really, _really _didn't want to split this up into three chapters but you see I have a lot more to go before Jace's sentence is finally declared and I ran out of time this week and it's one in the morning. By the time I finish writing this it'll be way too late and I need my beauty sleep. I could post a super long chapter next weekend and skip this update but I really don't want to do that. So I will definitely conclude this story with the next chapter. I really hate to do this. It just seems like the story is dragged out now...Oh, well. Please review! **


	10. Chapter 9: The Wounds Within

Fallen Gold

Chapter 9: The Wounds Within

_"Crawling in my skin. These wounds they will not heal. Fear is how I fall. Confusing what is real," -Linkin Park_

"Bring him back," the Consul said with a roll of his eyes.

Jace was led back to the table.

Jocelyn took a deep breath. "You all have to understand why I never told anyone what I know. See Valentine did horrible things to my first child and I had to run before I let him do that to my second child-"

"Are you my mother?" Jace blurted, cutting her off. "Am I your first or second child?"

"That mouth of yours better stay shut through her _entire_ explanation, boy, or you won't be able to sit in on it!" the Consul warned.

Jace shut his mouth, though he honestly didn't think his questions were unreasonable.

"So I ran and raised my child as a mundane; she still doesn't know she's Shadowhunter. If I had told anyone what I know Valentine could've tracked me down and had me killed, or worse had my daughter killed. So I left Idris to protect her. I know you all probably have no respect for me for running away from my responsibilities as a Shadowhunter but my daughter is more important than that.

"I came back here mostly because of Luke. He spotted Jonathon- Jace. He saw him in Central Park the other day as he was giving weapons to Valentine. Before doing anything, Luke went straight to me. He wanted-"

_"Lucian!" _the Inquisitor interrupted furiously. "Is this true? You went to her before the Clave even?"

Jace looked to Luke, who rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm bound to the Clave. I'm bound to my pack, but above all I am bound to Jocelyn."

The Consul looked as if Luke had slapped him. Jace fought the urge to snicker.

Jocelyn continued. "Luke was trying to protect me. He knew I would inevitably be involved if Valentine decided to appear again. See I knew all along Valentine was alive after the Uprising. So he asked me if he should report the news to the Clave right away or if he should wait for me to relocate or if he should just ignore it. Yes, Luke would keep Valentine's sighting a secret from you just for me," Jocelyn said firmly upon seeing the Consul's expression. "So I told him it was about time everyone learned the truth."

And then Jocelyn told a story, a long, horrible story that she couldn't possibly have made up. There were too many details and in a strange way it all added up.

"So you see you're not really Valentine's son at all," Jocelyn explained to Jace. "The day I found out about all the horrible experiments my husband was doing I also found out about how he was giving Angel blood to Celine Herondale while she was pregnant with you. He had an entire journal just for her progress. You have the blood of an Angel in you, Jace. Not just the amount a normal Shadowhunter has either. You have a little bit more. It makes you special."

Jace was too numb with shock to respond to this. He couldn't even look at Jocelyn.

"I planned to run away after the Uprising because I couldn't let Valentine do what he did to my other child. I would not let him make her a monster. Before I left though I did some last minute researching on the experiments my husband did. After reading anything I could on my first child, I flipped through the journal concerning the experiments done on Celine Herondale. She had died and I wanted to see what Valentine had done in response. He was furious to find out Celine had killed herself after Stephen's death. So he had the baby cut out of her and planned to raise him on his own."

Since Jocelyn had started her story the Clave had been whispering amoungst themselves. Jace had no idea what they were saying. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how people were even able to talk while she told them this story. The truth was that Valentine had done nothing but lie to Jace his entire life. The truth was that his upbringing was a complete lie.

However, at the same time this story was better than what everyone thought had been the truth not long before. At least Valentine wasn't his father...but he'd grown up under Valentine's roof. After the things Valentine had told him when he was a child, after what he put him through, it wasn't all that surprising. Only someone as horrible as Valentine could do what he'd done to Jace. But there was little comfort in the news. He'd been raised by Valentine and his parents were dead before he was even born, but at least Valentine wasn't his real father.

His mother had always been a mysterious figure he'd desperately wanted to meet, but this news put a whole different perspective on her. He used to think his mother had to be a very cold hearted, serious woman for marrying someone like his "father". Now his mother and father were two people he knew next to nothing about. He wondered which one he looked like.

Then, a frightening thought occurred to him. "But how do you know which son I am? If Valentine was raising us both how do you know I'm not...his other son. Your son. The one with the demon blood in him?"

Jocelyn's eyes were grave. "Because no one could be mistaken for being the real Jonathon Morgenstern. My first son had eyes like a demon's. They were black as night and they swallowed everything. His soul was corrupted before he was even born and I couldn't even bear the sight of him. He also looked exactly like his father. You on the other hand I can look at. Your eyes are gold rather than black and you look nothing like Valentine."

_The real Jonathon Morgenstern. What am I? I fake? A ghost? _Jace thought. _A failed experiment,_ he finished grimly.

"Did you know about any of this, Jonathon?" the Inquisitor asked.

Jace snapped out of his trance. "No, I didn't."

"Prove it."

Jace stared at the Inquisitor blankly. "I can't."

Jocelyn looked to the Inquisitor. "I can," she said in a quiet voice. The Inquisitor gestured for her to go on. "See, in the journal, Valentine did mention he was going to raise the boy as Jace Wayland and pose as Michael. Michael and his son are dead."

The Consul shook his head tiredly. "That's enough information for one day. I've had about all I can take. Here's what we're going to do. First, the Clave and I have make sure all the information checks out. Then, Jonathon will go to trial." The Consul looked to the guard again. "Escort the boy back to his cell again."

Most prisoners didn't have anything better to do than count ceiling tiles or pace around aimlessly. Jace, on the other hand, had quite a lot to think about. He lay on the wooden slab with a blanket and a flat pillow placed on it, a sad excuse for a bed, and placed his hands behind his head. Seated in this position Jace thought over everything Jocelyn Fairchild had said. He felt sort of detached from it all, as if he wasn't the one who'd just found out the truth behind his upbringing.

Maybe none of it was true. Maybe Jocelyn was a liar, but Jace knew in his heart he didn't really believe that. Jace hadn't had much time to think before Isabelle and Alec came to his cell yet again. Jace slid off his bed and walked over to them.

Isabelle was shaking her head in shock. "I can't believe it, Jace. I almost don't. Do you really think any of that is true?" Clearly Maryse and Robert had once again given their children all the details.

"I don't know," Jace said and then realized something, "but we have more important things to worry about now. The Clave and the punishment they're going to give me. They have proof I stole the weapons. There's no way I'll be let off of that."

"But what about all those things that woman said. Does she even have any proof that it's all true?"

Jace shrugged. "I guess the ring is the first clue. Valentine tricked me into thinking I was a Wayland and gave me the Morgenstern ring. All these years I thought it was a W when it was really an M."

"But that's just one clue!" Isabelle exclaimed.

"I don't _care _about any of that right now, Isabelle!" Jace snapped, losing what little patience he'd had. "I don't have time to care about any of it! I've got to figure what I'm going to do. So would you stop being hysterical for just one minute?" Jace said.

"There's nothing you can do," Alec pointed out matter-of-factly. "You have to go to court for this. Just tell them you didn't know it was Valentine and they'll probably believe you if they find reasonable evidence. That's it."

* * *

In the end, the Clave did a full investigation of the Wayland manor and found substantial evidence proving all Jocelyn had said was true. They also believed Jace's claim that he never knew Valentine was his adoptive father. However, Jace was accused of treason. He was punished for assisting one of the Clave's worst enemies. The Inquisitor sentenced Jace to be removed from the Clave and exiled from Idris. He was to have his runes stripped-thereby removing his sight.

The night before his removal Jace sat in his cell. He sat in silence for a full hour, letting the shock sink in and then unleashed it. He screamed loudly once and then slammed his fists into the wall repeatedly, blood dripping from his knuckles. As soon as he'd started, though, he was silent. This fit, this rage, that was not Jace. He was cool, collected, indifferent. Because you had to be that way in life. Showing those types of emotions got you nowhere. It just made your enemies happier.

So Jace leaned against the wall of his cell and then slowly sank to the floor. Trembling ever so slightly he wrapped his arms around his knees. He drew them to his chest, making him feel as small as possible. He thought maybe he was doing this in hopes of disappearing. He wouldn't mind if he didn't end up going anywhere. Jace was frozen with shock and appeared unable to remember what was causing the throbbing pain in his head or the heaviness in his heart. There was a rush of cold shooting through his spine, causing the tremors. At the same time there was a thin layer of sweat that covered his skin.

"Jace, come here," Alec said.

Jace didn't even want to look at him. _Not this time,_ he thought, agonized.

"Please, Jace," he heard Isabelle say, her voice choking on tears. Isabelle hardly ever cried. Jace had to look, just to see if she was crying.

To his surprise she was in fact close to tears. He crawled over to them because his legs felt shaky, as if they had fallen asleep. He thought that if he stood up his legs might snap under the heavy weight of the rest of his body. He wasn't sure if this would happen but he wasn't about to chance it.

"What do you want?" Jace asked sharply.

Isabelle's eyes were shining. "I don't know what to say," she said. "It's so unfair that they did this to you. It's..." She didn't finish because tears began to fall from her dark eyes. She was crying, Jace observed in a sort of detached way. She wasn't making any noise, but silent tears were falling from her eyes and sliding down her fine-boned cheeks.

It only made Jace feel worse, though. "Just leave me alone you two," he said, trying to keep his voice was steady but it was shaking slightly with controlled rage. "Your crying like a mundane isn't going to help me at all and you're just as useless if not less annoying," he said with a nod of his head to Alec.

"This is the last time we're ever going to see you," Alec pointed out mournfully. "We just came to say goodbye."

Jace looked at his friends, took in what Alec had said, and then swore colorfully.

"It's not fair," Isabelle whispered.

"What's the use in saying goodbye?" Jace asked Alec in a strained voice.

"There is no use. We just came here to do it," he answered.

"Where are you going to go? Who will you stay with? They can't just throw you out on the streets!" Isabelle exclaimed.

"Maryse and Robert offered to help me make all those arrangements, and the Clave had allowed me time to do so, but I said no."

"What! Why?"

"Because I didn't want to do it, that's why. That's like trying to start a new life and there is no life for me. Not anymore at least," he said. "Where are Maryse and Robert anyway? And what about Max? Aren't they going to say goodbye?"

"They said they'd come later. You know they feel horrible about all this," Alec said.

"Oh, _now _they feel bad. Before they were rooting for the Clave."

"They were never _rooting _for the Clave," Alec responded defensively. "Can't you just drop the attitude just this once? It may be the last time we ever see you."

"Don't say that," Jace hissed through gritted teeth.

"Well, it might be." Then Alec really looked at Jace through the bars of the cell. Jace could read his expression easily. He looked lost, his dark blue eyes swirling with sorrow. He shook his head sadly. "I never thought I'd be saying goodbye to you, Jace. I always thought you'd get yourself killed in battle."

"A much more pleasant alternative."

Alec opened his mouth to protest, but simply said, "Goodbye, Jace."

"Goodbye," Isabelle said weakly.

The Lightwood siblings waited for Jace to respond, but he didn't. The look in his gold eyes said everything for them.

* * *

As it turned out, Maryse and Robert had come to see Jace that evening. They'd brought Max along, who didn't seem to be able to comprehend what was going on. For Jace, though, they were much too late. Their initial betrayal at the start of all this was enough to make Jace less than sentimental about leaving them behind.

Maryse and Robert seemed to feel upset over Jace's fate, but it was almost in a cautious sort of way. It was as if feeling anymore contrite would make them bad people because after all, nobody in their right mind would feel upset for someone who'd been raised by Valentine. So they said goodbye with a sort of contained sadness and Jace felt all the more empty.

The trauma of what had happened to Jace the following morning caused him to forget most of that life changing day. He could remember being in a small room, chained to the wall behind him. There was a Portal in the wall opposite him. Then there was a tall, muscular man with beady black eyes in the room. He might've asked the man where the Portal led to, but Jace couldn't remember. The man might've spoken to Jace, but he couldn't remember that either. He was holding something in his right hand.

For some reason, Jace remembered telling this man he was left dominant. He didn't know why he'd told him that. He'd felt like he was in some sort of strange trance and words just seemed to flow out of his mouth, jumbled.

"A southpaw, eh?" the man had said, chuckling to himself.

Jace didn't know whether or not he'd responded. He wanted to ask the man if this process would hurt, but wouldn't dare. If it would hurt, he'd take it. Period.

To this day Jace had a million questions for this man that he couldn't think to ask due to the fuzziness in his mind that day. It had been like someone had taken a bag of cotton balls and dumped them inside his head. Was this man's job to strip convicted Shadowhunters of their runes? Didn't he feel awful doing this to so many people? Did this happen often?

More people entered the room after that. Then, Jace had the sudden urge not to give up. He'd fought through the Clave's accusations, through the entire trial process, why give up now? So Jace began to struggle in his chains, trying to break free. He'd kicked at the people who'd tried to hold him down. For some reason there was an ounce of fight left in him, and he wasn't going to ignore it.

But it was all over too quickly. They'd pinned him against the wall, removed his shirt, and then all Jace could remember was the white hot pain crawling within him. It sizzled through his body as he'd screamed. Something sharp dug into his body. There was a throbbing pain in the back of his head. His vision blurred and he forgot. He'd forgotten everything after that.

Then Jace was in New York again. Wounded just as much on the inside.

**A/N: I'm not crazy about this chapter. At all. Don't ask me why. Just review and tell me how you feel. Thanks. Back to the present next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 10: Road to Trouble

**A/N: It was very easy to write this week! I was so happy because I met the one and only Cassandra Clare at the book signing in N.Y. on August 4th! I bought a hardcover copy of CoG and she signed it. So much fun! **

Fallen Gold

Chapter 10: Road to Trouble

_"Oh, can't anybody see we've got a war to fight? Never found our way, regardless of what they say. How can it feel this wrong?" -Portishead_

When Jace was finally finished he did nothing. The boy simply stared at his hands, wearing a blank expression. Clary shifted uncomfortably. She felt like she'd been sitting there for hours. It was a horrible story that made her want to lock herself in her room and cry with sorrow and scream with rage until her throat bled. It made her want to kick her walls until her feet bleed. It made her want to march over to the Lightwoods or Valentine or the Clave or God if he existed and curse him for hurting Jace like this.

There was something else on her mind though, an assumption she just couldn't ignore. Jocelyn Fairchild and Lucian? It couldn't be...could it? But that would mean her mother was a Shadowhunter and married to _Valentine_. And Luke...a _werewolf? _No way. Clary decided she'd face that issue later; right now she had to say something to Jace.

"Jace, I'm so-" Clary began but she broke off. She remembered just in time how much Jace hated being pitied. "That story really makes me mad. I mean it," she said, feeling like she was trying to fake a Shadowhunter's attitude.

Jace finally looked at her with a smile lacking any joy. "Why?"

"That was a horrible story."

"But it's my fault and it's not like it happened to you."

"How could you say that?" Clary exclaimed.

"Because it didn't!"

"That's not what I meant! Jace, aren't we friends?" Clary asked and wished she could take it back. It was never good to ask Jace a question like that, because he was never nice.

"I don't really know what we are," Jace said, and she felt her heart sink, unaware that he was thinking about whether or not they were more than friends.

"When they removed your runes, did it hurt?" she asked quietly. It was the perfect time to bring up her theory, but Clary planned on avoiding it for as long as she could. Jace nodded. Clary knew she had to just get on with it. She sighed. "Jace, you said that Jocelyn Fairchild had said she'd left the Shadowhunting world to protect her daughter? Did she ever mention that daughter's name?"

"So that the Clave could track down the daughter that got away and place her on display in a museum? No, I don't think she'd appreciate that."

"Seriously, Jace."

"She might've, but I can't remember."

"Ok, well, I never told you this but my mother's name is Jocelyn. And Luke is her closest friend."

"Luke is a very popular name nowadays. I've thought of naming my first child Luke on multiple occassions, male or female."

"Would you cut that out?"

"What's your point?"

"You know my point, Jace."

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Jace, come on. We have to think about this. My mother mysteriously disappears the night I finally can see through glamour? That can't be a coincidence! Maybe on some level I knew I needed to be able to see through glamour so that I could help my mother. Maybe she used to be a Shadowhunter and...was married to Valentine. But that would mean Luke is a werewolf! Unless Jocelyn is my mother but the Luke in your story was someone else..." Clary felt dizzy.

Jace's eyes suddenly widened. He stared at Clary as if he'd never seen her before and she was astonishing. His lips were parted slightly, but he didn't speak.

"What?"

"You look exactly like Jocelyn."

"What?" Clary exclaimed.

"I remember now! It was a while ago and I've spent so much time trying to erase the memories but I can see her now. You look exactly like your mother. Same hair, same eyes, everything!"

"But that would mean Luke is a werewolf and she was a Shadowhunter! That's _insane._"

"I don't think it is," Jace said and Clary looked nonplussed. "It adds up, doesn't it? Your mother ran away from the Shadowhunting world to protect you from Valentine, who was her husband. Luke ran away too, but to protect her and help her protect you. In the story she told me, she said Luke was her closest friend even before he was turned, remember? She hired that warlock guy to remove all your memories but they've come back," Jace was saying this as if it all made perfect sense, but his clenched fists were evidence of his anger.

"But my mom...married to Valentine? That can't be! It must've been a different Jocelyn."

"Clary, there is no mistaking this. I can her so clearly in my head now, and you're no doubt her daughter. The story adds up. It explains why your mom is missing, it explains why you can see these things when we all thought you were a mundane, it explains everything." The finality of his tone was grim and Clary was almost certain she knew why.

"But that would mean," Clary said, almost in a whisper, "my mother is the reason you ended up like this. My mother and Luke."

Something flickered in Jace's eyes, but it was gone in an instant. "No," he said, as if to convince himself as well as Clary, "Valentine did this. It's his fault. Luke just happened to witness it and Jocelyn told me the truth anyway."

"But if they hadn't seen it you-"

"Clary, shut up for once."

_I knew you wouldn't be ok with this. _Why was that the one good thing she had left in her new life was suddenly ruined? Clary stared at Jace, who was looking right back at her. He'd never seemed so far away from her yet he was sitting right next to her on the couch.

He shifted uncomfortably. "This doesn't change anything, Clary, just so you know."

"It doesn't?" she said, not trying to hide the eagerness in her voice.

After a moment of silence Clary changed the topic. "I can't believe they locked you up like some kind of criminal."

"We're going back to this now aren't we?"

"I'm sorry. If you don't want to talk about it we don't have to."

"No, it's ok."

"What was it like?" Clary asked quietly. "Being locked up like that, I mean."

Jace collected himself by drawing a slow breath. "The worst part of that experience was on the first night. I was sitting there in complete shock. All I could think was 'I'm not like these people. I unknowingly committed a crime. I'm different than they are. I'm good. These people are bad.' I was telling myself these ridiculous things over and over again and then I overheard a conversation between two guys in the cells across from me. They were both trying to convince each other that they weren't like the others in there either; that they were good! That what they did wasn't like what everyone else had done. That's when I realized I was like the other prisoners. I'd done something awful and used reasoning to justify it like the prisoners...like Valentine."

"But you didn't mean it!" Clary insisted. "It's not your fault."

"I stole weapons from my home, my family, and gave them to a monster. How am I any better than the common criminal?"

"You're way better than the common criminal! First of all you didn't know he was a monster. You were just a kid looking for acceptance from his father."

"And he wasn't even my father and he's a monster!"

"But you didn't _know_ that!" Clary couldn't help but say a little hysterically.

"If a mundane buys a bootleg and doesn't know it, is he or she still breaking the law?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"If a guy gets into his car drunk, hits a little kid, kills the kid, but _didn't mean _to kill the kid, is he still going to jail?"

"Of course, but your situation is completely different."

"If a woman steals valuable jewelry from her mother and gives it to a friend to borrow, but doesn't realize her friend is actually selling them off to someone else, isn't that woman who stole in trouble as well?" When Clary didn't respond, he said, "That's what I thought. So if a boy steals weapons from his family to give to a man he thinks is his father to hurt others isn't that boy still held responsible? It's the same thing, Clary. I may not have known what Valentine was planning on doing...or that he was even Valentine. The point is that I had stolen from my own family, even if he really had been Michael Wayland, and I still broke the law."

"Ok, let's say he was Michael Wayland and you gave him the stolen weapons. If the Clave found out what would've been your punishment?"

"I don't know."

'Would you have been removed your marks still?"

"Probably not."

"Well, that's all you thought you were doing!"

"But I was in way over my head and the Clave is supposed to punish people who assist traitors like Valentine."

"I know," Clary admitted, "but I'm just saying you would have never stolen weapons to someone like him. You probably wouldn't have stolen weapons for _anyone _except for your father. All you ever wanted was his approval. That's all you were looking for, Jace."

Jace hugged his knees to his chest, folded his arms on them, and then rested his chin on his arms. The position he was in made him appear much younger. "Yeah," he said slowly, taking in what she had said, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Jace, I know you. I haven't actually known you for that long but I _get _you."

"I know you do. Sometimes I feel like you're the only one who does. You see me so well it's as if I'm transparent."

"I know who you are. You're a pain in the ass," she smiled, "but you're also one of the most incredible people I know."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. There's just something about you that's..."

"Sexy?"

"No, I'm talking about you. Not you're physical appearance. You're just different. I can't explain it. In my world almost everyone I know just sort of walks right by me without bothering to look back, but you're not like that." Clary felt her insides melt as Jace slowly moved closer to her, but she didn't bother to wait. She leaned toward him and they kissed. She cupped the side of his face, his skin warm and smooth. Wisps of his tawny hair tickled her cheek.

Distantly the two heard a key being inserted into the front door. Jace swore under his breath-Clary could feel it hot on his lips-and resumed kissing her at a faster pace.

"I should probably go," Clary broke away from him and scurried off the couch.

"Wait," Jace said firmly. "Would you want to meet me here tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Uh, ok. When?"

"Whenever. Just come over. We could...hang out I guess."

"Sure," Clary said. They'd never officially called their meetings "hanging out". They'd only referred to it as Clary telling Jace important updates in the Shadowhunting world.

Kristy opened the door and entered the apartment. "Hi, Clary," she said, apparently used to her company. "Can I get you anything to eat?"

"I was just leaving actually, but thanks." Kristy said goodbye and Clary left the apartment. It was only when she was outside and able to think straight that she felt a burst of excitement. _I think Jace just asked me out on a date!_

* * *

"You mean they're all meeting up together? Izzy, are you sure you heard them correctly?" Alec asked his sister that evening, who was slurring every other word. He looked to Sebastion, who shrugged.

Isabelle's eyes were wide and glassy. She was wearing a black mini-skirt and a deep red tank top. Her hair, neatly piled on top of her head and secured with bobby pins before she'd attended the party a warlock had thrown, was now a mess of dark locks falling down her shoulders. "I'm _positive_, Alec. They said the Downworlders are all meeting up together to discuss a plan. Except for the Vampires because they already want to declare war against us." She giggled almost manically at that. "They're so _silly!_ Aren't they silly, Alec?" Isabelle tripped in her heels and leaned against Alec for support, who grimaced.

Sebastion whistled. "The vampires already want to declare a war?"

"I just said that! Were you listening?" Isabelle slurred angrily.

"I'm so telling Mom and Dad about this when they get back. You're drunk, Isabelle."

"And you're gay, but I at least have the common courtesy to keep my mouth shut!"

Alec was noticeably paler. His eyes met Sebation's. The boy held up a hand to signal it was ok, but there was something about the way his eyes glittered that told him it wasn't. "Do you know when and where they're meeting?" Alec asked.

Sebastion had to surpress a smirk. Alec and his drunken idiot of a sister were obliviously feeding him all the information he'd normally have to find himself. _This is going to be too easy._

* * *

Jace stretched out on the couch, dazed. Did he just ask Clary out this afternoon? Isn't that a mundane custom? Mundane custom or not, he was still going to be with Clary tomorrow, and that was enough for him. Jace hopped off the couch and left the apartment, too restless to sit still.

He went to the local coffee house, bought coffee and didn't drink much of it, and then left. Standing at the corner of the street was a sharply angled, large, figure. Jace squinted in an attempt to see the figure better. There was just something about this person...

_Valentine._

Jace felt his heart slam against his rib cage. He wanted to turn and run. Run as fast as possible, but that was cowardly. He froze, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to run but he wasn't exactly going to walk over and greet him. So Jace stood glued to the concrete like a complete idiot, but Valentine didn't move either. He remained on the street corner under the light, standing straight and proud.

Jace wondered if he should just go home, but why was Valentine standing still? _He probably wants me to walk over to him, to test me. He wants to see if I'm brave enough to approach him. _Unable to refuse a challenge, Jace lifted one foot and then another. His feet felt shaky and his legs weak. Slowly, he approached Valentine.

"Jonathon," he said, nodding his head as a form of greeting.

"Hello, Father," Jace said, looking anywhere but into Valentine's piercing eyes. Despite everything, he couldn't help but still refer to the man as his father, and had no idea what Valentine would say if he'd said his name.

"You're a mundane," he stated.

"Not really," Jace said quickly. "I can see through glamours. I-I just don't have my runes anymore."

"You're a mundane," he confirmed more forcefully this time. "Surely you must be miserable."

"Not really. I have a lot of cool new hobbies. For one, I collect stamps now."

Valentine rolled his eyes. "Jonathon-"

"I also got a new toy. You ever hear of an etch-a-sketch? Man, those things are fun. I can't believe you never got me one as a kid." Sarcasm laced Jace's tone, but under it was a barely controlled anger.

"That's enough," Valentine ordered angrily.

"I draw you on it. Over and over and over again. And then I shake it as hard as I can and watch you disappear."

"Now you're just being foolish."

_"It's because of __you!" _Jace shouted in a rage. "If you hadn't asked me for those weapons I wouldn't have been-"

"Don't you dare blame me for your own mistakes!" Valentine snarled fiercely. "There are plenty of things you could've done to prevent your fate. You're pathetic, Jonathon. Still a child."

Jace wanted to scream some more, to lash out at him. But that would only prove Valentine's point. God, how he _hated _it. He hated when Valentine bullied him like this. "I don't like to be called Jonathon. My name is Jace," he bitterly.

"That's not important right now. I have to talk to you about something that might be worth your while. Do you think you're mature enough to have this conversation with me?"

"You lied to me," Jace said with a more steady anger. Tonight would be the night he'd end the cycle. For good. "You lied to me about _everything. _What do you even see when you look at me? An experiment? That's all I am to you. A failed experiment. How can you talk about honor and pride when you manipulated me before I was even born?"

"I had to make the necessary sacrifices to carry out the Angel's wishes. I hardly think you have reason to be angry with me. If not for my involvement you'd be dead. Perhaps it's more fitting to be angry with your mother. She was the one who killed herself while you were still-"

"You didn't save me for the right reasons!" Jace snapped, not wanting Valentine to say anything about the parents he never knew. If he was going to be angry at his mother, it would happen because of his own personal opinions. Not because of some lies Valentine would spread into his head like poison. Not this time. "You saved me because you needed your experiment. You never cared. You don't care about me and I...I _hate you_."

Valentine laughed coldly. It sent chills down Jace's spine, despite the hot night time air. "My boy, why do you think I had you fetch me weapons? Do you honestly think I couldn't get those weapons for myself? I was testing you! I wanted to see if you were strong enough to join me. Not just because you're a strong warrior, but because I wanted to keep you safe. If you cared about me enough, I knew you'd be willing to steal from your adoptive family. So I had you do so to prove your loyalty to me. If you were not devoted to me, I wouldn't be able to keep you safe."

"From what?" Jace cried.

"From the Clave once _I take over!"_

Jace exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "So it is you. I knew you were responsible for killing those Downworlders. I knew it, but what will that do? How are you going to overthrow the Clave by murdering Downworlders?"

"You haven't figured it all out by now? Surely your mind is quicker than that."

"Considering I haven't been in the Shadowhunter world for months, no, I haven't figured it out."

"A war is starting, Jonathon. A war between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Once that war begins I will invade the Clave with my army of Circle members, but enough of my plans. I didn't come here to tell you them anyway."

_He doesn't know I have a connection to the Shadowhunter world, _Jace thought. His hands were clenched at his sides.

"I have something to talk to you about that might be worth your while, but I need to know you'll be mature enough to actually handle this conversation."

_Tomorrow when I see Clary I can warn her about this and she can go to Hodge._

"Do you think you can do that?"

_He can warn the Clave. Tell them to make peace with Downworlders before it's too late. By the Angel, how has no one done anything to fix this?_

"Jonathon!" Valentine snapped. Jace's train of thought was broken. He cleared his head and looked to Valentine. "I said do you think you can handle that?" he said with a glare.

Jace licked his lips, as they were dry. "Sure."

"Ok, then. I'm sure you've missed your old life dreadfully. You've always been the overly sentimental type. I was always forced to worry about you and your precious,_ precious _feelings. So how would you like to return to Idris?" he said slowly.

Jace looked puzzled. "As a mundane? But I-"

"No, as a Shadowhunter."

"You're not saying..."

"Actually, I am. Jonathon, I know the way for you to get your runes back."


	12. Chapter 11: Just Like You

Fallen Gold

Chapter 11: Just Like You

_"You thought you were there to guide me. You were only in my way. You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you. I could be cold. I could be ruthless. You know I could be just like you," -Three Days Grace_

It had begun to drizzle again as Clary headed to Simon's place that evening. For once, she wasn't worried about her mother or Luke or Valentine or the world she'd just been thrown into with no way out. For once, she could only think about Jace and how amazing he was to her. Though she did feel guilty about it, Clary figured she deserved to have a moment of peace.

Clary had never been the kind of girl to hunt around for a boyfriend. At her school she generally walked by without being seen and that was just fine with her. Well, she could've benefited from having another friend, but a boyfriend? She had never even been able to picture herself with a boy. She didn't know what kind of guy was "her type" but she certainly had never seen herself with someone like Jace. Maybe it was because she felt like she was too much of a "good girl" or maybe it was because she didn't think she was pretty enough. But in her mind there were boys- a complete mystery to her other than Simon and then there was Jace-ten times more complicated and all the more incredible for it.

Since the night at the club, Clary had kept her knowledge about the Shadowhunters to herself and told Simon as little as possible but after the discovery she made tonight there were too many secrets she had to keep. She didn't like keeping secrets from him and he knew something had been off about her lately.

Clary had not been very good at coming up with reasonable lies to explain to Simon what had been happening these last few weeks. So when she finally did explain everything to Simon-who Jace really was and the Shadowhunters, her mother's lies (leaving out the more shocking things like how Valentine was her real father and Luke was a werewolf. Clary figured she should avoid overwhelming Simon too much information in one night), demons and Downworlders and the Clave-he was surprised but also very relieved to know the truth finally.

They spent that evening just talking. Simon naturally asked a lot of questions about the Nephillim race and Clary answered them to the best of ability. Within the mix of questions, Clary had traced the conversation back to Jace. She began to give Simon a more detailed explanation and completely lost track of how long she'd been talking for. The only thing she didn't tell Simon about was how she might've been going on a date with him tomorrow.

"He likes to play the piano too. Well, I'm not sure if he actually likes it. His fa-Valentine sort of forced him to learn how to play. I think he likes it though. That's something you guys have in common then, right? Music."

"Clary," Simon said, trying to get his own words in, but Clary just went on.

"He's a leftie too, which I think is kind of cool since they're such a small percentage of the population."

_"Clary."_

"Is it possible to have gold eyes, Simon? Because I swear his eyes are more gold than, I don't know, light brown-"

_"Clary!"_ Simon cried.

Clary shut her mouth, realizing only then that she'd been rambling on like an idiot. "What?"

"I get it. You like Jace! But you don't have to go _on and on!_"

"I don't like Jace!" Clary said lamely, realizing how obvious she'd just made it.

Simon snorted. "Then are you telling me all about him for my own personal benefit? You do know I don't go that way, don't you? And even if I did I could do way better."

"Simon! I don't-"

"Yes, you do. You've been talking about Jace since the night we met him. You like him."

Clary fixed her gaze away from Simon. "Maybe I like him a little."

"He's got full and complete control over your heart."

"He does not."

"I think you should stay away from him," Simon said firmly.

Clary was dumbfounded. "Who? Jace? Why!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"He's...trouble, Clary. I can tell."

"You sound like my mother," she said sourly.

"Use your common sense! He's a former Shadowhunter-they don't sound too safe-and damn it, Clary, were you with me that night? He's going to hurt you. I can tell."

"Thanks, Mom, but I think I can take care of myself. He's not going to hurt me! We're friends. That's all."

"_Sure _you are!" Simon snapped sarcastically. "But you just wait, Clary. If you let him know you think of him that way or if you make it as obvious as you've been making it for me-by, I don't know, let's say attaching a blinking neon sign to your head that says _'I have feelings for you'_-he's going to toy with your emotions. He'll pretend he likes you and he'll see how far he can get with you and then he'll throw you away like trash."

"I didn't ask you for relationship advice!" Clary snapped furiously. "What do you know anyway? You've never even been in love bfore!"

"Yes, I have!" Simon shouted before he could stop himself. His dark eyes were wide and behind his glasses they looked even wider.

"Oh, really? Who?" Clary put her hands on her hips and fixed Simon with a glare.

"What does it matter?"

"I knew it!"

"Oh, and _you're _relationship history is so much more impressive than mine?"

Clary wrenched the door to Simon's room open. She glanced back at him and said, "You know what? Just forget it. Forget I ever told you any of it. I sure am sorry I did." And then she slammed his door shut and stormed out.

Arriving outside the Institute she saw Sebastion, eyes darting the perimeter of the place suspiciously. He was dressed in the Shadowhunters' trademark black leathery gear and was wearing a belt of weapons. He looked secretive and ready to pounce on someone. One second his eyes met Clary's and then the next he was standing in front of her. He moved so fast it startled Clary. She didn't like that, his speed.

"Sebastion!" she cried softly. "What are you doing?"

He smiled at her. "I thought I heard something outside so I got dressed and raced out but I don't see anything," he said with the air of someone doing a favor for the greater good of others.

"Something? Like...a demon?"

"Possibly." Sebastion's eyes looked past her again. Clary turned around, just to be safe, and saw nothing. "You heading inside?"

Clary nodded. "Do you want me to stay outside in case you need help?" she asked lamely, knowing she was not much use to him.

"I'll be fine. Thanks, Clary." Sebastion waited for her to leave and then snickered. Maybe he was being a little over the top with everything, playing the prince charming role in the presence of her horrible ignorant sister. His father had accused him of playing too many games when he'd murdered that werewolf, but it wasn't Sebastion's fault that the pack happened to stop running at the theatre for _The Phantom of the Opera_!

It'd been too easy to kill that boy. He'd used an opening rune to get inside the theatre, then snatched the dog inside when none of the other mutts had been looking. The werewolf boy had tried to run away. Since Sebastion was blocking the exit he'd run inside the theatre itself. After that it had been an easy kill.

Clary headed inside, went up the elevator, and headed to her room. When Clary finally collapsed onto bed and closed her eyes, she realized she wasn't the least bit tired. She was in fact very awake. She couldn't stop thinking about Jace, but the rush was already beginning to end. It was replaced with a new shocked anger. Her mother and all her secrets and lies. And Luke too. There was no one she could trust anymore.

Clary shot up in her bed. She had to talk to someone. Hodge was her best bet. He grew up in Idris. Maybe he even knew her mother, but she wasn't sure she could find out more ugly truths tonight. Right now she just needed someone to listen. She felt a longing for Simon to be connected to this world with her, but he wasn't. So the next best thing would have to be Alec and Isabelle.

She stepped into the hall and could hear Isabelle from the bathroom-vomiting. Clary sighed. She would just have to wait for tomorrow.

* * *

"You know the way to what?" Jace had to hear him say it again, just to be sure.

"I know the way you can get your runes back. It's quite simple really. In fact I-"

"No," Jace said firmly, anguish hidden beneath his tone. "I don't trust you. I'm not that stupid, not anymore at least. You may have been able to manipulate me once. Hell, you've been manipulating me my entire life but I've learned my lesson, finally. I'm done with you. How many times do you need me to tell you that? Should I get a translator? Although, I probably know enough languages on my own. Which do you need?"

Valentine raised his eyebrows but his expression did not change. "Are you sure about this? You're willing to remain a mundane?" Valentine shrugged. "Perhaps the mundane world has softened you. I can't think of a single good reason you'd stay here unless you're afraid to go back, afraid of me. Though I can't help but think you're letting the Angel down. As Nephilim it is our sacred duty to-"

"Don't feed me that _crap _again!" Jace barked, surprised at his new found bravery to stand up against Valentine. "You know that, more than anything, I want to go home again. To be a Shadowhunter and see my family. But you're not my family. The Lightwoods are and I know that somehow, someway, you're planning on using me."

"As a matter of fact, I am planning on using you. I just thought you'd find it worth your while."

"What are you talking about?" Jace cried, nonplussed.

"Well, certainly you can't expect me to give you your runes back for free," Valentine said matter-of-factly.

"I don't have any money, just so you know. And I'm not willing to do anything naughty, by the way."

Valentine grimaced. "You know what I mean. If I give you back your runes all I ask in return-"

"_How _can you make me a Shadowhunter again?" Jace asked skeptically.

"That's for you to find out if you agree to my offer."

"No deal then. For all I know you don't even know how."

Valentine chuckled darkly. "I can promise you that's not true. I need you to be a Shadowhunter again in order for my side of the deal to work. I want you on my side, Jonathon."

"I should've known you're doing this for you. I won't even consider it until you tell me how you can make me a Shadowhunter again."

"Do you remember the day they stripped you at all?"

Jace paused. "I remember hating you. A lot. But I might have that memory confused with the day before that day or the day after or-"

"I am not going to put up with this!" hissed Valentine.

"I don't really remember it. I was chained up. There were some guys holding me down and another guy removed them somehow. He was holding something, I remember. It was about the size of a knife, but it wasn't a knife. And," Jace paused, then reminded himself that he no longer cared about what Valentine thought of him, "I remember being in pain. There was a lot of pain. It felt like my entire body was on fire."

"It was a stele."

Jace blinked. "What?"

"A stele was what the man was holding. He used it to strip you."

"That doesn't make sense. That would mean he'd have to use a _rune_ to strip me."

"The Disabling rune. It's not a well known rune. It's sort of like the Clave's little secret."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Do I ever kid?"

"I didn't mean that. I was doing that sarcasm thing you love so much."

Valentine looked as though he was about to retort, but only said, "The way the Disabling rune works is that it's drawn onto your body and once drawn it sort of deactivates every other rune you're wearing and does not allow any new runes you wear to work. It also produces a chemical inbalance which causes your Sight to weaken. That burning sensation you felt, that was the Disabling rune sort of peeling-or burning-off the rest of the runes on your body."

"But I've never seen this rune. Wouldn't I see it on my body?"

"Another result of the Disabling rune. You can't see any of the other runes on your body, but they're still there. They all sort of faded into you, along with the Disabling rune itself."

"So the runes are all _inside_ my body?"

"Not exactly. You see it's almost as if the rune has stripped off the first layer, which is the layer that is visible on your skin. They're still apart of you just...deactivated."

"A part of me? I can't see them but you say they're still there and I can't use them but they're still there! That doesn't make much sense to me."

"It doesn't have to make sense to you," Valentine said dryly. "It's just how it works."

Jace didn't really understand it all, but he was relieved. He'd been, and still was, Nephilim all along. It'd never left him. He'd just been "shut down" in a way. That was the best news he'd heard in a long time. "How do I fix it?"

"With a Restoring rune. The one and only purpose of this rune is to remove the Disabling rune and reverse its effects."

"Will it hurt like the Disabling rune did?"

"I wouldn't know," Valentine said with pretension. "I've never had either of them drawn on me."

"Well, aren't you special."

"Not special. Just smart enough to avoid such a fate."

Jace chose to ignore this. "How come I never knew about this Disabling rune? How come I don't know of any Shadowhunters who even know about it?"

"It's not a very well known rune. It was created by the Angel to protect us all from impure Nephilim. The Angel believed the most devoted Shadowhunters were responsible for removing the impure ones. If you ask me this only proves that I am justified in my desire to exterminate the Downworlders and carry out the Angel's wishes.

"This rune can't be found in the Book, although there are hints throughout other books that say there is a way to strip a Shadowhunter. Through years of traveling and research I discovered how to create it with Stephen Herondale. However, we did not take credit for creating the rune."

"How noble of you," Jace sneered.

"The rune was often used years ago. The Clave was corrupt and abused their power. They were not afraid to strip a Shadowhunter who stepped out of line even a little. After a while the rune was used less and less and soon was lost with time.

"You see, I first discovered it while I was leading the Circle and Stephen was my second in command. I taught it to my more trusted members. Only a fair few in the Circle knew how to do it. Shortly after, we figured out how to create the Restoring rune and taught them how to draw this one as well. I taught the Disabling and Restoring runes to Jocelyn, Stephen, and a few others whose names you wouldn't recognize."

Jace wished Valentine had said the names anyway. Maybe he could hunt one of them down and ask them to draw the Restoring rune. Though it'd be very hard to find anyone, especially because he couldn't be seen in Idris.

"However, I think you do recognize the names Maryse and Robert Lightwood."

Jace looked to Valentine, incredulous. "You mean...the Lightwoods know how to_ fix _me? And they never even said anything?"

"And all this time you thought _they_ were your real parents," Valentine said.

Jace felt his blood turn icy. More lies, more betrayal. Jace swore he would never trust an adult again. _Then why are you here talking to Valentine _Jace wondered. _Because he's blatantly telling you he can't be trusted and you know he can't be trusted, but that doesn't mean you can't hear what he has to say. _But what if Valentine was lying about all of this? Jace suddenly felt very sick.

"The Inquisitor knows about the runes. His former wife was in the Circle and she was one of my more trusted members but she took off long before the Uprising-the coward. She must've told him about those runes because he taught them to the rest of the Clave. The Clave decided to use it as a punishment for only the worst of Shadowhunters who did horrible, horrible things. They decided early on that this punishment was quite harsh, so they only use it on the few Shadowhunters who they really see as a threat."

"And I did something as horrible as betray the Clave by supporting you, so I'm one of those few."

"Correct. So what'll it be?"

_Maybe I could just accept his deal and then run away. I won't have to do all those awful things Valentine would want me to do. __I'll live on my own and hunt demons on my own. Anything's better than this. Anywhere's better than here. I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of never seeing the Lightwoods again because I never see them anymore anyway. I've got nothing to lose and everything..._There was one thing Jace had now that he wouldn't have if he took the deal.

_Clary. _

She was the only reason Jace was still able to get up in the morning, to go on in life. If he took the deal he'd lose everything. Sure, he'd be able to hunt demons again but he'd be forced into a life on the run. He could never let anyone see him because he could be reported to the Clave and he couldn't stay with Valentine because he'd be helping him overthrow the Clave. So really he'd only have a small part of his old, dearly missed, life back. If he took the deal he'd never be able to see Clary again, to hear her light, clear laugh, feel her smooth skin, kiss her tender lips...

"I'm screwed no matter what. Don't you get it?" Jace said suddenly. "If I join you I have to help you do all the horrible things you want to do. So the answer is no."

"You don't understand. I won't make you do anything. What exactly did you think I wanted you to do?"

Jace shrugged. "The usual. Torture and rape Shadowhunters. Kill some innocent Downworlders."

Valentine raised his eyebrows. "You think I need you to do anything? I have an entire group of Shadowhunters dedicated completely to my cause. I don't need you."

"Of course you don't. You have the better version of me. The one you fed the blood of a Greater Demon to," Jace said bitterly.

"That's not important right now."

"Where did you find Shadowhunters who are as horrible as you?"

"It's always the people who fight to make a change in the world who are outcasts from society. These Shadowhunters are not 'evil', Jonathon. They are simply looking to make the world a better place. My point is, I'm not expecting you to do anything. I just want you by my side, Marked and safe."

_Liar, _Jace wanted to say. Instead he said, "But if you don't need me to do anything why do you want me to be with you?" But Jace thought he knew the answer to that already. _Because, despite everything, you really do still care about me._

"To keep you safe! I've told this several times! When will it sink in? I need to protect you from the war I'm starting. The Angel knows you're foolish enough to get yourself killed once the battle begins."

_Maybe I could take the deal, tell Clary I'm running away, and ask her to come with me...but she'd say no. I know she would. She'd never leave Simon and her mom and Luke. Maybe I could visit her occasionally and we could meet in secret. _But Jace knew it wouldn't be good enough. He couldn't stand the thought of not seeing Clary as often as he did now, which was nearly everyday at this point. With immense disappointment, Jace knew there was no way he could ever take the deal.

"I can't take the deal," he said quietly.

Valentine's eyes darkened. "You've just disappointed me."

_"Really?" _Jace said, bitterly feigning surprise. "Now I know what'll be the cover story for the _New York Times._"

"Why aren't you taking the deal? Mundane life comfortable enough for you?"

"I just can't. It's a no and I won't change my mind. Ever." Jace turned around, not bothering to wait for Valentine's response, and began to walk back to Kristy's place. He felt Valentine grab a handful of his shirt suddenly and yank him. With a cry Jace stumbled backward and was whirled around roughly.

Valentine was looking him directly in the eyes-cold, hollow black eyes meeting with bright, startled, gold eyes. "Then," he said in an angry hiss, "I'll just have to force it on you." Before Jace could react to this, Valentine gripped both of his arms forcefully enough to hold him in place.

Jace looked at him, nonplussed. "Why do you care so much?" he asked.

"Hold still, Jonathon," Valentine snarled but Jace had just figured out the answer on his own anyway.

"Because even though I'm still your experiment gone wrong, you had something to be proud of because I was such a good Shadowhunter. Now that I was made into a mundane, well, I'm just hardly a step above Downworlders, right? And you're going to drop dead before you let it stay that way."

_"Quiet!" _Valentine shouted and gave Jace's shoulders a rough shake.

Jace wasn't going to lose without a fight. He fired a kick at Valentine's gut, but he dodged it. He did have to let go of the boy to avoid the kick, though, and Jace took this opportunity to run like hell. He didn't get far before Valentine caught up. He grabbed Jace's arm and slammed him back into the wall of the building beside him. Jace cried out in pain as his head smashed into the wall. A sharp shock of pain ran up his spine. Jace gritted his teeth. He felt dizzy and wondered if he'd mercifully pass out. Jace did manage to get a single thought in though. _How ironic that I've spent months wishing I could get my runes back and now I'm running away from the one person who is trying to Mark me._

Valentine grabbed both of Jace's arms in one hand and yanked them over Jace's head. In his left hand he held a stele. "Stand still while I draw this," he ordered.

"_No!" _Jace shouted, resulting in Valentine cracking him across the face with the hand holding his stele. Jace's head whipped to the side and bent over, his hair hanging in his face. Everything was spinning and he desperately wished he could set his vision straight.

He fired another kick at the three Valentine's he saw before him. He hit the right one on the first try. This time Valentine winced, but made no move away from Jace. He did slap Jace once more in the same spot and fired a kick of his own at Jace's legs. His legs gave in and Jace fell to the ground. Before he could scramble to his feet, Valentine planted both knees on Jace's chest. He gasped for air, but hardly any would come. Between the dizziness and the nausea that were overwhelming him and the lack of air, Jace just didn't have it in him to fight back. He was just barely managing to stay conscious.

Valentine pressed the stele to Jace's arm. He felt the familiar prick of pain and surge of power. He hesitated before drawing any more. There was a moment where Valentine did not move and then suddenly the pressure was off of his chest and Jace greedily gulped in air, ignoring the throbbing in his ribs. Valentine stood up and glowered down at Jace. Jace tried to stand up himself, but Valentine pressed his boot into Jace's throat, forcing him back down and choking him again.

"I should've known you'd do this," he said slowly, harshly. "That's the last time I try and help you, Jonathon. We're done and don't even think about crawling back to me and begging me to help you. You're on your own now." Valentine kicked him in the face. He scraped his nose just hard enough for Jace to feel a warm rush of blood flow out of it. Jace cringed, but bit down on his lip so that he wouldn't cry out this time. Valentine turned away from him and began to walk, his boots clicking on the concrete with each step.

Jace tried to stand, he really did. He tried to stand so that he could chase Valentine down and fight him or at least follow him to wherever he was hiding out but he could hardly stand.

"Oh, shoot! Are you alright, kid?" Jace looked up to see a young man with concerned blue eyes looking at him. "You look awful. Do you want me to take you to a hospital?"

"I'm_ fine!_" Jace cried, sick of people feeling sorry for him. To prove he was fine, he scrambled to his feet. A wave of nausea coursed through him and his stomach churned. His ribs were probably bruised too. For all he felt though, Jace was great at pretending he really wasn't in any pain at all. He shouldered past the man and set out to Kristy's place.

When he reached the apartment Jace's first thought was to get himself cleaned up before Kristy came home and freaked. She'd gone out on another date. It seemed she was getting pretty serious with this one guy.

Jace could hardly stand. Getting here had been difficult enough. Since he knew Kristy wouldn't be home for a few hours he stumbled over to the couch and collapsed onto to it, resting his head comfortably on the pillow. He snuggled under the blankets, despite the heat. He just wanted something to feel secure under. Just because he needed a distraction from his aching head and the way he was having difficulty breathing, Jace turned on the television.

He wasn't sure if he'd passed out or fallen asleep. Either way, Jace was out like a light within a minute.

* * *

"Now," Sebastion said in an eerily calm voice, "let's go over what you're going to say tomorrow night one more time." His dark eyes glared at the young werewolf threateningly. He held the dagger about two inches away from her throat.

"That w-we should b-blame the Clave for everything that's happened," she stuttered, terrified. Paige was the leader of her pack in Queens. Young-only twenty-two years old-and new to the position, she was the perfect hostage for Sebastion. "That it's their fault that so many Downworlders have been murdered recently and they should've enforced more protection for as all."

"Exactly, cur. And we're in agreement that you're going to tell the rest of your flee ridden pack to back you up on this?" Originally, Sebastion had planned on intruding on the meeting itself and convincing the Downworlders that it was indeed the Clave's fault that they were all dying. But Downworlders hardly trusted Shadowhunters, especially ones that looked like Sebastion. He also didn't want to leave his scent in a werewolf's bar. Definitely not smart.

Paige opened her mouth to answer, but was overwhelmed with fright and could only choke on a sob. Sebastion pushed the knife against her throat, a red bead of blood now visible. The girl shrieked. "Yes, yes! I'll tell them to go along with it!"

"Good, now listen, cur, we have spies all over New York and if I ever find out that you didn't listen to me, I swear by the Angel I'll hunt you down and kill you. And then I'll spit on your filthy grave, got it?"

Paige nodded, tears spilling from her eyes.

Sebastion smirked. "Excellent. Tell me how it all turns out."

* * *

Clary had to wipe the smile off her face the next morning at the Institute. Things in the Shadowhunter world were going so wrong it seemed almost common courtesy to refrain from letting the others know how wonderful she felt, like she was on top of the world. She took the elevator down and made her way back to the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, Clary," Isabelle said, looking excessively pale and holding her head in her hands.

"Hey...are you ok?" Clary asked.

"Ignore her," Alec said as he entered the kitchen. "She's very, very hungover."

"Oh," Clary said. She didn't know what else to say as she'd never been drunk before herself. She looked to Alec. He was looking at her uncomfortably. She knew why. Usually Isabelle was the one to start the conversations and keep them going and Alec and Clary were always able to follow along. But now they had to find something to talk about on their own or just have an awkwardly silent breakfast.

"So, uh, how's Simon?" Alec asked.

Isabelle groaned and Clary looked to her. She ran a slender hand through her raven hair-the motion incongruously clumsy for Isabelle. "Is she going to be ok?"

"Oh, she'll be better soon," Alec said.

"Ok. Anyway, Simon's fine," Clary said. She didn't even think he'd noticed she'd been gone last night. "I guess things here aren't any better."

"Well, word is that the Downworlders are coming together to have some sort of meeting tonight. I guess they're going to discuss what to do about this issue with the...killings," Alec said.

"What choices do they even have?"

"I guess they'll either kill us or they won't."

"Oh, well that's promising."

"But the Vampires aren't going."

"Really? Why not?"

"They don't want to discuss tactics or contemplate peace...They want war with us. Now."

"Oh, God. Maybe the other Downworlders will try and negotiate peace."

"I don't know about that. The others are definitely not happy. Especially because the Accords are approaching."

"The Accords?"

"It's this treaty that gets signed establishing peace between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. It was first signed after the Uprising."

"_After _the Uprising? That's pretty ironic. Well, maybe we could go to the meeting that the Downworlders are having," Clary suggested.

Alec raised his eyebrows. "You mean intrude on their meeting? Two Shadowhunters intrude on a Downworlder meeting. Oh, sure, they'd love that."

"But we could convince them, you know? Convince them that not all Shadowhunters are like the one-or the ones-that killed all those Downworlders. Maybe if they saw that we don't want a war and we don't want to hurt them-"

"This tension between us, Clary, it's a long time coming. There's always been animosity between us. The Downworlders hate us. If we intrude on the meeting we'll just look aggressive and condescending. You know what mean?"

"Yes, and that's because you guys _are _aggressive and condescending," Clary said, irritated. "And you guys all wonder why they hate you so much."

Alec regarded Clary thoughtfully. "What exactly do you and Simon talk about all the time?"

Clary was a little surprised at the sudden change of topic. "What? Why?"

"You're not telling him about all this just because he's your friend, are you? Because if you were-"

"No! God, no," Clary exclaimed, a little too quickly. She was so nervous about him suspecting she'd been feeding the information to someone else. _Jace._ Clary's heart fluttered just at the thought of his name.

"Because if you were-" Alec tried again with a threatening look in his dark blue eyes.

"I'm _not_," she confirmed. If only Alec had asked her this two days ago. Then she wouldn't have had to lie. She didn't want to lie to Alec, who she liked after all that had happened, but she felt strangely justified doing so. _My mom's not the only person who gets to go around lying to everyone,_ she thought bitterly.

Alec gave in. "Ok. Just forget I said it then."

That evening Isabelle was starting to recover from last night's excitement. She did, however, spend most of the day on the couch drinking soda. Clary had decided to wait until the evening to see Jace. She didn't want to seem too "clingy" and the evening made it seem more like a date-which was especially important since he never officially called it a date.

She went into her room and pulled out a tight fitting light blue tank top that hugged her waist and denim shorts. Clary tied the laces of her green sneakers; she'd never cared for heels and the only pair she owned were hardly an inch and she hadn't even taken them to the Institute with her. She ran a brush through her hair and sprayed it in an attempt to keep it from getting frizzy from the humidity. When she was done she checked her reflection in the mirror...

And scowled. It had literally taken her five minutes to get ready. How long did Isabelle take to prepare for a date? _She probably gets ready in five minutes but manages to look amazing anyway_, Clary though grimly. Clary wanted to impress Jace tonight. There was nothing impressive here. Her petite figure was "cute" not beautiful. She was a ginger and her curls would surely go crazy the moment she stepped outside. She had no jewelry or nice mini skirts she could wear and even if she did, it wouldn't be her.

She didn't want Jace to fall for her just because she would be able to make herself up to look like a person she really wasn't._ I suppose I could use a little make up anyway,_Clary resolved. She didn't really own any of her own but someone, who happened to be sprawled out on the couch with a pounding head ache, did. Clary scurried down the hall and toward Isabelle's room.

She went over to her vanity desk. Makeup cluttered the dresser. Clary wasn't even sure how to correctly apply half of Isabelle's cosmetics. She decided to start off simple and grabbed a tube of glittery pink lip gloss, gingerly lifting her hand so as not to knock any other cosmetics out of place.

It was strawberry scented. Food scented makeup never failed to baffle Clary but she supposed if a guy liked it she could give it a try. There was a half empty box of Q-tips on the dresser. Clary decided she should use that to apply it.

"_What_ are you doing?" Isabelle snapped, a clear warning in her tone.

Clary jumped, startled. She knocked over a Japanese cherry blossom scented perfume bottle. She hastily placed the lip gloss on the dresser, picked up the perfume, and turned to face Isabelle. The other girl was standing in the hallway, hands on her narrow hips. "I didn't realize _my _property was suddenly _your_ property as well!" Isabelle said.

"I'm sorry," Clary said. "It's just...I'm meeting up with a friend tonight and I thought I could benefit from wearing a little makeup. I know I should've asked you first but..."_ But I know you would've said no and you were dreadfully hungover so I thought I could get away with it,_ was the end of that sentence.

The superiority in Isabelle's posture was gone. Her expression didn't change, but her arched eyebrows lifted slightly. "Is this friend a boy? Clary, do you have a date?"

Giving in, Clary nodded.

Isabelle's face lit up, to Clary's astonishment. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Prepping is the best part of the date! Sit down!" She gestured to her chair with a fling of her arms and ran off.

Clary sat down. She realized then that, under the black leather and tattoos, Isabelle was just like any other teenage girl. "Where are you going?" she called after Isabelle, but she didn't answer. She returned with a curling iron that was kept under the sink in the bathroom. "My hair is already curly," Clary pointed out.

"I know," the other girl said, plugging the iron into an outlet in the wall. "I'm going to fix them." She grimaced at Clary. "They're a mess."

"Thanks," Clary said dryly.

Isabelle grabbed the lip gloss Clary had been about to apply a moment ago. "Now, as we wait for that to heat up," she said began putting on the lip gloss. Clary fought the urge to lick her lips as Isabelle took out the blush.

"Don't go overboard. He's never seen me with makeup before and I don't want to freak him out."

Isabelle laughed. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Tell me about the boy," she said.

"There's not much to talk about."

"Of course there is! He's not dull or anything, is he?"

"Far from it."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Chase." _Way to pick a name that sounds like Jace. You couldn't go with Andrew or Joey, could you?_ Clary scolded herself. "He's...nice. We get along really well."

"Is he cute?"

"Well, yes. Very."

"I'd like to meet him." Clary couldn't help chuckling. Isabelle gave her a confused look. "What?" she asked, as she reached for her eyeliner.

"I'm sure you know him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you've dated every type of guy there is to date so I'm sure you'd know exactly how to work your charm on him."

Isabelle laughed and lifted her chin arrogantly. She lifted the curling iron and began working with Clary's hair.

* * *

_In the his dream Jace was flying. He had glowing white wings like an angel that shone golden as the light passed through them. The wind lifted his hair and made him feel free and strong. Jace didn't recognize where he was, there was a scattering of trees below him and now buildings. Idris maybe? It didn't matter though because nothing was going to bring Jace down from this high. _

_Suddenly, he was tumbling out of control, heading for the ground. Two arrows had pierced his wings. Jace reached for a tree branch to prevent the fall, but every time he grabbed one it slid out of his hand. As he got closer to the ground, Jace saw his wings had folded over, torn to shreds, and darkened until they were black. Right before he hit the ground he saw the bearer of the bow and arrows-the one who had shot him down. Valentine. Jace's face was inches from the ground-_

Jace fell off the couch at hit the ground hard, legs tangled in the blanket. He pulled the blanket away from him. It was sticky with sweat. Jace ran a hand through his soaked hair and tried to catch his breath. He went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water onto his face. He heard someone knock on the front door.

"Jace?" It was Clary. "It's me."

Jace looked in the mirror. He was a mess still. _Damn it._

"You there, Jace?"

"No," Jace said dryly as he went to open the door. Upon seeing Clary's expression and knowing she would immediately ask him what happened, he said, "It's absolutely none of your business. Now can we just get this night over with?"

**A/N: And that concludes this chapter. *Sighs with relief*. It was definitely my longest one yet. Please review it!**


	13. Chapter 12: Shattered

**A/N: One of my readers thought that in the last chapter Valentine actually did give Jace his runes back. I went back and read the chapter myself. It seemed very clear at the time I was writing it that Valentine changed his mind at the last second, but now I'm not so sure. So, just in case anyone else was confused, Valentine _did not _give Jace his runes back. He decided that he wasn't worth it and left him. He is still stuck in the mundane world. Also, I'm looking for a new beta if anyone is interested.**

Fallen Gold

Chapter 12: Shattered

_"And I've lost who I am. And I can't understand why my heart is so broken. Rejecting your love," -Trading Yesterday_

For a moment, Jace and Clary were silent. Both were curiously studying the other. Jace had realized just then how different Clary looked. She had makeup on for once, lips shiny and eyes popping out the way Isabelle's did when she wore eyeliner and mascara. Her hair was perfect, not a strand out of place. No doubt, her new look took Jace's breath away, but at the same time he couldn't help thinking that he also liked Clary just the way she was. No makeup, hair disheveled, yet more beautiful than any girl he'd ever known.

Clary, on the other hand, was horrified by the sight of Jace. His eyes looked intense and angry. His cheek was severely bruised, an ugly red mark covering it. He had a little bit of crusted blood right above his lip, and he looked horribly worn out. She looked to him, concerned.

"It's absolutely none of your business. Now can we just get this night over with?"

_Oh, how romantic. _"Something is wrong and you don't want to tell me what it is," Clary said immediately.

"I got into a fight, ok? No big deal."

"Why are you angry?"

"Because there was nothing good to watch on TV today and the Yankees lost. (Jace had picked up on this famous mundane baseball team during his time as a mundane)" Jace rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I'm angry?"

Clary felt her heart sink. She had been so looking forward to this night. She supposed it served her right for being a jerk to Simon and forgetting about her mother and Luke. Whatever was wrong with Jace, though, one thing was for certain. She wouldn't let him treat her this way. "If you're going to be an ass all night, I'm not going to hang out with you." Clary said. Jace didn't say anything. She knew that the only way she could enforce what she'd just said would be to turn and leave but she couldn't for two reasons. One was that she didn't want to leave Jace while he was looking so miserable and the other was that she wanted to know _why_ he looked this way.

Jace hadn't heard her. He was too busy thinking about how mad he was at Valentine and the Clave. He hated them and he hated the Lightwoods. They knew all along. They knew how to draw a Restoring rune and they never told him! Jace wondered if he could ask Isabelle or Alec to figure out a way to learn the rune, but he didn't want them to risk ending up like him, knowing they'd do anything to help. He hated the Clave, Valentine, the Lightwoods. Each of them helping to break him in their own way. He was broken. _Screw them all, _Jace thought in a blind rage, _I'm not even going to warn them about Valentine. Those idiots should've figured it out the minute those Downworlders were all murdered. They're going to war now. _

And to think the reason he wasn't a Shadowhunter by now, the reason he'd declined Valentine's offer was standing right in front of him...

"Jace? Are you ok?" Clary asked.

"How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"Well, if you saw the look on your face right now you'd understand!" snapped Clary. "I'm trying to be nice to you! I would stop being a complete jerk if I were you. I'm the only friend you have!"

"There you go again," Jace said with a roll of his eyes. "You know you haven't done anything to make my situation better? You've only made it worse. You act like you're the bright light at the end of a dark tunnel for me, like being with you is going to solve all my problems."

Clary's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"I have a family back in the Shadowhunter world you know! I don't need you!"

"Yeah, your family are the ones who dumped you and didn't dare to look back because they were so afraid of the Clave!" Clary shouted. "And how have I even made it worse?"

"Well, maybe not worse, but your mother certainly hasn't done anything to make things better."

Clary felt as if he'd punched her. "Leave my mother out if this, Jace!"

"Your mother was nothing but a coward! She took off and left Idris! She _knew_ that Valentine was alive and she_ knew_ he was raising me but she did nothing to stop it!"

"Shut up about my mother!" Clary cried. "She did that all to protect me! It's not her fault your mother killed herself!" The disappointment she'd felt over this date turned into embarassment for actually thinking Jace felt the way she did. Jace wasn't capable of caring for anyone, not even himself. He shut everyone out, including Kristy who'd done nothing but try to help him. Jace couldn't love. Period. The thought made Clary even angrier.

Jace's expression darkened. "She left an innocent baby behind, knowing Valentine was going to take care of him."

"So you're just going to blame your whole lousy life on my mother?" Clary cried. "Come on, Jace! What's gotten into you? What's making you so mad?"

_"You!" _Jace cried. He could see that he was hurting her but couldn't stop himself. In fact, it made him feel better. Jace knew it was wrong, but he actually was mad at Clary for being the main reason he hadn't accepted Valentine's offer. It made him feel strangely vindictive toward her.

"What did I do?" Clary said, rightfully indignant.

"Why don't you just leave, Clary?"

"I've done nothing but try to help you!" Clary protested. "I've been coming here nearly every day! I've told you everything I know! All of it!"

"I _don't want _to know about any of it," Jace said in agony, realizing for the first time that this was true. "After all these months I thought that someday, somehow I'd return to the Shadowhunting world. I figured in the mean time you could give me the news and tell me what's going on so that I could keep up with everything. And now I can admit that there's no way I'm ever going to be a Shadowhunter again. I'm stuck as a mundane until the day I die and there's nothing I can do about it. So I don't need you anymore. I'd rather not know anything than know everything but also know I'm unable to do anything. The small connection is too painful."

Clary felt her legs quiver. "But just the other day you said we were friends. You said we were friends," she repeated helplessly.

"I lied." Jace smiled bleakly. "People lie, Clary. People are liars and manipulators and all sorts of horrible things. Don't you realize that by now?"

Clary bit her lip, anger boiling inside her. "You're a _dick."_

"Congratulations on figuring that out months after you met me."

Clary said nothing. She fixed a glare at Jace and then left. But she was all alone and awfully miserable. She needed someone to talk to and there was only one person left...

By the time Clary had found Simon, she was already crying. "Clary, what's wrong?" he asked, stunned.

Clary rubbed her eyes impatiently and then looked at him. "You were right about Jace," she whispered.

* * *

"Didn't you sort through the mail, Alec?" Isabelle called from the kitchen with a pout. A cluttering of envelopes were scattered about the table.

"There's never anything in it for us anyway. Unless it's something from mom and dad," Alec answered. He stepped into the kitchen to see Isabelle. His sister muttered something about having to do everything around here and gathered the envelopes.

She flipped through each one impatiently. "All stuff for Hodge." Then she paused a moment. "Hey, what if there's news about the Downworlder situation in one of them?"

"If there is I'm sure he'll tell us it all anyway."

"How do we know he's not keeping anything from us? What if he is so that our fragile minds are not corrupted?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt he's worried about corrupting you, Izzy. And even if he is it's his right to keep some information to himself. We have to respect his privacy and decisions."

"You're just saying that because you think it's what you're supposed to say now that you're almost eighteen!" Isabelle protested. She opened an envelope.

"Isabelle, cut it out!" Alec snapped. He tried to snatch it from her but she darted out of the way.

"This isn't for Hodge. It's for all of us!" Isabelle exclaimed. It's an invitation."

"What are you talking about?"

"A party! There's going to be a party at the Angel Square and we're invited!" Isabelle exclaimed.

"For what? When?" Alec said, not sounding excited at all.

"It's an end of summer festival. So it's in August and the Clave is throwing it. Oh, Alec! Isn't that so cool?"

"Sure. Shadowhunters are supposed to party hard," Alec said sarcastically.

"Would you lighten up for once? I think it sounds fun."

"I think it sounds frivolous."

"So you're _not_ going?"

"Most likely not."

"Why not? It can't just be because you think it's stupid! You always say these type of events sound dumb but you insist on going anyway and then the whole way home you complain about it."

"Maybe I need a change of pace this time around. I'll just complain about it when you get home and save myself the trip."

"Tell me the truth."

"The truth hurts."

"No, it doesn't. You know what really hurts? Dropping a hammer on your foot."

"This conversation is getting stupid."

"You know what else hurts? Knowing that Jace won't be there."

"Isabelle, it is not like that at all."

"Even though Jace doesn't care about parties, even though he'd just make fun of everyone there and then flirt with girls he would never care about, it's still in Idris and Jace loved Idris. So that's why you won't go."

"No! I just don't want to go to a stupid party!"

"I get it, Alec, you're upset. Jace was a brother to you. You two were so close, but you have to move on."

"We're not talking about this anymore," Alec snapped angrily.

"Alec, Isabelle!" Hodge suddenly appeared in the kitchen, looking strangely out of place due to his usual preference to sitting in the library. "I got this message now! Representatives from werewolves, warlocks, and faeries are being sent to Idris tonight. The Clave has offered to negotiate peace with the Downworlders and they've accepted!"

"But the vampires still want war?" Alec asked grimly.

"The mail is right here on the table!" Isabelle cried.

"I found this letter and left the rest there," Hodge said in exasperation. "And yes, Alec, as far as I know the vampires still want war. But this is still a relief, isn't it?"

* * *

Jocelyn shivered, even though she wasn't the least bit cold, as Valentine gently stroked her fiery red hair behind one of her ears. "After all these years," he whispered, "you're the still the most beautiful woman I know. Do you see that?"

She said nothing in respond. Just sat and stared at her hands in her lap. She'd all but given up on trying to escape with Luke. If she got caught trying again Valentine would surely kill Luke. Valentine forced Jocelyn to face him and planted a kiss on her lips. It tasted awful, like blood and betrayal. How could she be in Idris for this long and not feel at home at all? Not feel like anything but a prisoner?

She yearned for the bright polluted skies of New York and for her brownstone in Brooklyn. Most of all she wanted to see Clary again. What was she doing now that Luke and her were both gone? Living at Simon's? She must've called the police and had them set out looking. Had they given up yet? _My baby,_ she thought longingly. _Is my baby ok?_

Just then the door swung open. The boy standing in the doorway had cold, dead black eyes. Jocelyn would know those eyes anywhere. She screamed and nearly fell over on the bed. Valentine caught her with his firm fingers.

"You were not to return to Idris until your tasks were complete," Valentine said sternly. "I trust you got the jobs done."

Jocelyn was surprised by his tone. He sounded a little anxious, but it was hard to pick up on under his strong layer of confidence.

"The deeds are done, Father," their son said. A malicious, horrible sort of grin lit up his face. Jocelyn thought she was going to be sick.

"Where are the others?"

"They're here. Don't worry. Right after the attack we Portaled back here."

"What's going on?" Jocelyn blurted.

"Why don't you leave your mother and I alone for a moment, Jonathon?"

The boy leered at Jocelyn suspiciously before leaving. "Jocelyn, dear, do you remember when I told you that the Downworlders planned on coming to Idris because the Clave offered to discuss a peaceful agreement with them?"

Jocelyn's throat suddenly went very dry. She nodded weakly.

"Well, I sent Jonathon to lead selected Circle members into New York with a very important assignment. For once, the vampires were smart in that they didn't want to Portal to Idris. All the Downworlders that were intending on meeting the Clave are now dead."

The wave of shock and horror did not take over this time. She knew he'd say that. Instead, she only felt pity for those Downworlders and fearful for the future of the Shadowhunters.

"The Portal happened to be at the very brownstone I took you out of. Your friend Madam Dorothea had one and that's where I placed my Circle members. All they had to do was wait for the Downworlders to show. I wonder how they will react," Valentine said thoughtfully, but in a way that said he very well knew what would happen.

_I hope what I think is going to happen won't,_ Jocelyn thought with growing trepidation.

**A/N: This chapter (and the one after it from the looks of it) are slightly shorter than most of the chapters. However, they all seem to be different lengths despite my attempts at consistency. Lol. Please let me know what you thought!**


	14. Chapter 13: When It's Time

Fallen Gold

Chapter 13: When It's Time

_"And then I need your voice as a key to unlock all the love that's trapped in me. So tell me when it's time to say I love you," -Green Day_

Clary had spent the night at Simon's. It should be awkward that a male and female teenager slept in the same room without anything going on, but it couldn't have felt normal for Simon and Clary. What Clary loved the most about her friend is that he never once said anything other than the perfect thing to say at the time. Simon wasn't pretentious enough to say "You should've listened to me" or "I told you so!".

The next day Clary ate breakfast at Simon's and spent the entire day with him. By the time the evening came, she knew she had to return to the Institute. She had to keep up with what was going on. Not because of Jace of course, but because of herself. Her mother and Luke were still gone.

Despite Simon's offer to let her stay for another night, Clary headed back to the Institute. She had come to Simon's to wallow in her own self-pity. The fastest way to get over Jace was to just head to the Institute and get on with her life.

_Jace. _His name was a knife that cut through her sharply. Why hadn't he loved her? Why couldn't he love or feel? Clary blamed Valentine. Something in Jace went wrong after spending all those years with him. After all, he did send Jace to New York and told him he was just a big disappointment when he was ten years old! Even though Clary was thinking all these things, it didn't make her feel any better. It didn't even allow her to forgive him.

Clary arrived at the Institute. She decided the first thing she should do was find something, anything that would take her mind off of Jace. Something to keep her busy. She went upstairs. "Alec, Isabelle?" she called. "I was at Simon's all night." She walked down the hall but no one was around. "Hello, anyone there?"

That's when she heard the two of them arguing in the weapons room. Clary went inside. Alec and Isabelle were arguing. Isabelle was taking weapons off the wall as Alec was saying, "Don't be so quick to make a decision like this, Isabelle! You can't even fight yet. You're not old enough!"

"I don't care, Alec! Our parents and Max are in Idris! We have to go!"

"What's going on?" Clary asked.

Isabelle and Alec both looked startled to see her. "Oh, Clary," Alec said dryly. "We thought you were with Simon."

"I came back," Clary said matter-of-factly.

"You left for one day and missed all the excitement," Isabelle said.

"What happened? Is this about the meeting the Downworlders had with the Clave?" Clary glanced at the weapons Isabelle was holding. "I'm guessing it didn't go all that well."

"Last night the Downworlders were murdered before they even made it to Idris. It was the Circle. When the other Downworlders found out, they were all furious. They all illegally Portaled to Idris, allied themselves with the Downworlders already settled in Idris, and attacked the Clave." Isabelle looked horribly pale. "Clary, last night a war broke out."

"My mother and Luke are in Idris," Clary whispered to herself. Another thought occurred to her immediately. She couldn't help it. _Jace has to know._

* * *

Jace answered the door to find Clary there. He was surprised, but she couldn't tell because he schooled himself into an indifferent expression. Jace crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. "I knew you'd be back for more."

Clary chose to ignore this. "Can I come in, Jace?" she said quietly. She had resumed her usual appearance. The make up had been washed off of her face and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Bright red wisps of hair fell into her green eyes.

Jace gestured for her to come inside. He led her into his room and they both sat down on his bed. "You just can't stand to be away from me, can you?"

"This is important," Clary said trying to keep her cool. "I wouldn't have come here unless it was this important."

"I don't have a condom if that's what you're thinking and even if I did-"

"JACE!" Clary screamed and when he closed his mouth she drew in a breath. Steadying herself, she continued. "This is much bigger than...well, that. This is about the Shadowhunters."

It was Jace's turn to get angry. "I don't _care _about the Shadowhunters. I already told you. I'm over it. They could all drop dead right now and I wouldn't give a flying-"

"Well, then I guess you're off the hook!" Clary snapped furiously. "Because a war is starting between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders." Jace became noticeably paler. "That's right. The Downworlders have declared war and Maryse, Robert, and Max are still in Idris but since you don't care anymore I guess I didn't need to come here and tell you that your family is danger of dying." _I've got him now_, Clary thought, wildly eager to see Jace care about something for once.

Jace bit his lip, searching for the right words. Finally, he said, "Whatever."

Clary could've fallen over she was so shocked. "You don't care?" she asked.

"I don't care," he confirmed.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT CARE? THIS IS YOUR FAMILY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! I CARE AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN MY FAMILY!"

Jace shushed her furiously and Clary heard the front door open. "The same way I was removed from the Clave and_ they _didn't care!" Jace whispered angrily.

"Jace? Are you there?" Kristy called from the living room.

"I'm in my room. Clary's here," Jace called back.

"Oh, ok," Kristy said in that "I'll just leave you two lovers alone" way.

"What about Max? Did Max not care?" Clary said immediately after.

"Clary, stop! I told you I was putting all this behind me now. I told you that I was done with this!" Jace was yelling. "I don't want you to come here and tell me anything anymore!...But I do want you to still come here."

"What?" Clary exclaimed, nonplussed. "You told me you don't want to be friends anymore."

Jace scoffed. "It's the exact opposite. I was just mad at you. I could've been made a Shadowhunter again, if not for you. And before you get mad over that let me explain." And so Jace went on to tell her what had happened.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Why would you refuse the offer just because of me?" Clary said, though she could only think of one reason in particular and it made her heart beat faster.

Instead of answering, Jace traced his fingers across Clary's face. She closed her eyes, falling into his touch. "I'm sorry, Clary. I know apologizing is useless, but I'm sorry."

Clary gently removed his hand from her face and squeezed it. "No, it's good you said that. I forgive you, Jace, and I'm so sorry about what happened to you."

Jace grinned weakly. "Alright, alright. Enough with the apologizing. I've clearly been in the mundane world for too long." His expression darkened at that thought.

Clary squeezed his hand again. "You're stronger than I've ever thought anyone could be to be able to go through all you've been through. I mean you've lost your runes, your family. I don't think I could ever be able to pull myself together like you did."

Jace shook his head. "You don't get it. You don't get it at all." He gently took hold of one of her curls, examining it thoughtfully. "It's because of you, Clary. When I first became a mundane I was...I was so broken. I thought about killing myself."

Clary jerked her head away from him. "Jace!" she exclaimed, horrified.

"It's true," Jace said, unfazed. "But then I met you."

"And you had a connection to the Shadowhunter world. I get it."

"No, it's not that. Well, that's part of it, but you did something to me. It's like you're the only reason I can even go on anymore. Clary, if it weren't for you the Angel only knows what I'd be like by now, if I would even be alive." Jace ran a hand through his hair shakily. "I don't know if it's the right time to say this but I think I'm in love with you."

Clary felt her muscles weaken. "You think you're in love with me?"

"No, I know I am. I'm in love with you."

Clary had never been more at a loss for words. She wanted to cry because she was so touched and sad at the same time. To know that Jace was so broken, to know his heart was shattered, it made her heart shatter. But to know that she was his only source of strength, well, it was the most amazing feeling in the world. More than anything she wanted him to know that.

"I love you too," was all she manage to utter and then she was throwing herself into his arms and he couldn't seem to kiss her quickly enough.

"Valentine said I was weak," Jace murmured between kisses. "He always said that. He said I was weak because of my emotions." Clary stopped kissing Jace and looked up at him. Her hair was endearingly disheveled. It made Jace grin. "And when I'm with you I can't help but agree with him. But you know what? I don't care."

Clary kissed him again. "You're not weak. You're stronger than anyone I've ever known, but I already told you that. Jace, Valentine is a monster. He's a heartless, souless, monster. The fact that he is keeping you from getting your runes back proves that."

He took her in his arms once more. They were on each other, planting kiss after kiss, lost in their own utopia. Jace's hands slid down her waist and toward the hem of her jeans just as they did last time. He kept his hands there and continued to kiss her. This time, Clary was satisfied to feel more passion than anger in his touch. When the door to Jace's room abruptly opened neither of them even heard it.

"Jace, Clary," Kristy said shakily.

They snapped apart like a rubber band. Clary was wiping her lips, as if Kristy could see a trace of Jace on them. The two teenagers were startled to see Kristy's face was drained of all color. She looked completely shell shocked. Her mouth was a thin red line, her eyes were wide. "Clary, I think you should go home."

Clary was mortified. Did it look that bad? Did Kristy think Clary was about to...do _something_ with him? _Well, his hands were down pretty low,_ she thought horribly. "We weren't...we were just kissing."

But Jace, who was prone to negative emotions a lot more often these days, was suddenly very, very angry. "You're kicking her out?"

"I think it's time Clary went home. It's getting late."

"You're being _rude_, Kristy," Jace snapped. "Clary can stay as long as she likes."

"No, this is _my _apartment and I get to decide how long she stays!" Kristy retorted angrily.

Clary suddenly felt very small. She meekly slid off of Jace's bed. "Jace, it's ok. I'll just go. It is getting late."

Jace opened his mouth to say something, but gave in. Not without one last dig on Kristy though. Jace grabbed Clary by her shoulders, whirled her around and planted a kiss on her lips. It sent chills through Clary. She didn't say anything as she walked past Kristy, only shot her an apologetic glance.

"What is wrong with you?" demanded Jace furiously as soon as she was gone. "I wasn't doing anything with her! We were just kissing, just like she said! And even if we were doing more I can do whatever I want anyway!"

"Jace-" Kristy tried but he cut her off.

"If I _do_ decide to do anything with her I'll hang a sock on the door and if you come in then I swear I-"

"_Jace_, who were you and Clary talking about before?" Kristy demanded.

Jace was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Jace, were you two talking about Valentine Morgenstern?"


	15. Chapter 14: Back In Black

Fallen Gold

Chapter 14: Back In Black

_"Back in black. I hit the sack. I've been too long, I'm glad to be back. Yes, I'm let loose. From the noose. That's kept me hanging about." -AC/DC_

"What?" Jace said. He'd heard her perfectly, but couldn't understand how she knew the name Valentine.

"You know the name Valentine. So does that mean you're...?"

"I'm a Shadowhunter," Jace confirmed tonelessly. "Well, I used to be anyway. So how do you know-"

"I'm a Shadowhunter." Kristy paused and looked at Jace. "Well, I used to be anyway."

Silence. Neither of them could find the right words. To Kristy, Jace looked very small sitting on that bed, like he was still a child. His hair seemed to have grown longer since the day she first took him in. Tawny locks curled behind his ears. His appearance, always looking so worn out even though he never really had any lack of sleep, suddenly made sense to her. He clearly didn't look happy with the situation and the added stress took its toll. The way Jace was looking at her, bright eyes locking in on her face, made her uneasy.

"Where are your runes?" Jace asked.

"I don't draw them on me anymore and any trace remainders of them I put cover up over. I guess we need to talk. So who's first?" It would've funny in a less startling situation. When Jace didn't say anything-he just continued to stare at her in that unsettling way-she knew she was in fact first.

Getting over her initial incredulity, she said, "I grew up in Idris, training to be a Shadowhunter of course. I went to school with Valentine and admired him very much. It didn't take much for me to decide to join the Circle. Don't make that face," Kristy said when Jace arched his eyebrows. "We all joined back then. I wasn't any smarter than the others.

"I fell in love with Valentine, or at least I thought I did. I didn't know what love was until I met my husband. Anyway, I felt like I was in love with him and did everything I could to get closer to him. But it was futile. I was miserable when he married."

"Jocelyn Fairchild."

"So you know the name? She was so beautiful and happy with him. I envied her, but remained in the Circle. Being with Valentine, even as one of his soldiers, was better than never seeing him at all." Kristy's brown eyes were sad, but there was always a warmth to them that Jace was glad to still be able to see behind the sorrow. "It was before the Uprising that I came to this realization. The Uprising was all Valentine could talk about. He was starting a revolution and restoring Idris to its 'former glory'.

"My husband had joined the Circle sometime after I did. He had fallen for me right away, but I had been too busy getting over Valentine to notice. I think Richard was the one who brought me out of my slump, which lasted far too long. I talked with him and found myself falling for him even harder than I did for Valentine. I hadn't even thought that possible! He was just perfect. We had the same hope for the future-to have children and love them with all our hearts. We dated and were married soon enough. At that point I was ontop of the world. And soon I was brought back down.

"The Circle got bigger and more corrupt. It took me longer than it should've to snap out of it and realize the truth about Valentine. He was nothing more than a corrupt, power hungry villain."

"At least you picked up on it," Jace said bitterly.

"I think I had known this all along, though. I was just afraid to mention it to Richard. He seemed so devoted to Valentine. I stupidly thought if I told him how awful Valentine really was, he might not have loved me anymore. I know now how silly that was. Richard and I were so in love that wouldn't have made him feel any different. Anyway, I figured since I was married I could safely tell him how I really felt about Valentine.

"Richard told me he knew all this, that he'd figured this out a while ago, but never bothered to mention it. He said there wasn't anything we could do. If we left the Circle, Valentine would just track us down and either force us to return or more likely kill us. He would never let us get away with it now that we were preparing for the Uprising. And who are we to think we could take on an entire army of highly trained Shadowhunters?

"More than anything, Richard and I wanted to start our family together. So we did the only thing we could think to do-we fled from Idris. We left Idris behind and came here to New York. Our parents gave us frequent updates so we knew all about the Accords and Valentine's downfall.

"For a while things were going well. We wanted to wait before having children so Richard and I spent the next two years enjoying married life. We took vacations and spent all day together. It was wonderful and I can't say I disliked the peaceful ways of the mundane world. You seem to loath it, Jace, but I think the world was meant to be this way. With all the hunting and the wars and deaths it's not a Shadowhunter's first priority to raise a family. I think it's more important to love and to be loved."

Jace scowled. "Look how soft this life made you. You used to be a _Shadowhunter._"

"Even a Shadowhunter can love, Jace. Your loved ones should be the most important thing you have."

"Yet look where that outlook on life has led you," Jace replied and regretted it instantly.

Kristy's expression grew even sadder. "There was nothing I could do to make my husband stay, but I still believe my loved ones mean more than anything to me...I just don't have any. My parents are both dead now and I have no siblings. Do you have any loved ones?"

"I thought I did, but I don't," Jace said, painfully thinking of the Lightwoods' betrayal. But Clary's face popped into his mind and he decided he'd lied to Kristy and that maybe all she'd said to him wasn't just a rambling mess of words. "Maybe I do. What happened to you and your husband?"

"When we finally decided to start a family things fell apart. I think I told you a while back I had five miscarriages. We tried everything. We saw so many doctors who tried so many different techniques to help me but in the end we just gave up. You can only fall so many times before you're down for good.

"I knew things would never be the same for us. We started fighting and even when we weren't fighting there was a distinct distance between us that wasn't there before we tried having a baby. We were both in so much grief. To make matters worse Richard's father had died.

"When I woke up to an empty bed one morning I wasn't surprised, just miserable. Richard left me a note. He decided to return to Idris. His family was still there and he wanted to be with them. I didn't bother to chase him down. What we had was over. A part of me still loves him very much, though. I think a part of me always will."

"That sucks," Jace said. It was the closest he could get to expressing his sympathy. Jace wasn't used to feeling sorry for someone and he didn't like it.

Apparently, Kristy understood. "I know it does. So what's your story?"

"I guess I have to tell it, don't I?"

"No, but I'd appreciate it if you did."

Somehow, that made Jace a little bit more comfortable. So he told her everything, from believing his father was Michael Wayland to being stripped. It was at the moment where Jace was telling her about Valentine offering to draw the Restoring rune that Jace nearly screamed, _"You were in the Circle!" _

Kristy blinked, startled. "Yes?"

"Oh, crap! You were in the _Circle!"_

"I know it was wrong but I left before things got crazy," Kristy said defensively. "I think I deserve a little credit."

Jace leaped off the bed. "Did he teach you it?"

"Did who teach me what?"

"Valentine, obviously! Did he teach you how to make a Restoring rune?"

Kristy shook her head in confusion. "He might have, but Jace I really don't remember-"

"Try."

Kristy, ignoring Jace's forceful stare, thought for a moment. She turned and unexpectedly left his room. Jace didn't hesitate to follow Kristy into her bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Jace demanded as Kristy opened her closet door and got down on her knees. She crawled into the closet and began tossing shoes aside.

"What do you think I did with all my gear when I ran away? Leave it behind? No, I'm always prepared. I wasn't about to risk being unarmed when Valentine or some other nutcase tracked me down. Why do you think I was so private about my room and closet? Oh, here it is!" Kristy dragged herself back out of the closet carrying a large cardboard box.

Jace watched with hasty eyes as she took out black leathery pants and a shirt. Then she took out boots, a weapons belt, and a small necklace with a silver chain. "Oh, this was my favorite weapon!" She held it for Jace to see. The necklace had a tiny dagger (smaller than a pencil) with a sharp, crooked blade. It was inside a sheath.

"But that's just a necklace," Jace said.

Kristy carefully slid the sheath off and revealed the twisted blade underneath. "A warlock gave it to me for sparing him when the Circle was hunting him down. The blade is small, but has been enchanted with a never ending supply of the same poison that rests in the waters of Lake Lyn. Stab a fellow with this only once and the effects are deadly," Kristy said this with such a mischievous grin that, for the first time, Jace could believe she was once a Shadowhunter. She clipped the necklace behind her neck and continued to search through the box.

"Kristy, did you ever suspect I was a Shadowhunter? Is that why you've been...putting up with me?"

Kristy looked from the contents of her box to Jace. "I've been putting up with you because I was trying to figure you out, Jace. You just seem so lost and alone all the time, and for some reason I never really believed the story you made up about your parents. What you said to me so long ago, about how I felt I was meant to look after you since I couldn't carry children, that was true."

Jace winced. "I didn't mean-"

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. There was also just something about you, Jace, that just drew me to you. Maybe it was because you told me you were an orphan and I want more than anything to be a mother or maybe I just felt a special connection to you because you're a fellow Nephilim or maybe it was both. I don't know...Here it is," she said with a sense of finality. Kristy pulled out a stele. "My goodness," she whispered. "When was the last time I used one of these?"

Jace stared at the small stele with hungry eyes. "Draw it on me," he said.

"That Restoring rune? Jace, I already told you. I hardly remember-"

"Well, remember fast and then draw it on me."

"I should probably remind you that if the Clave removed you for good, it is really, really, super illegal for me to draw that on you. It's probably the most illegal thing I could possibly do."

"You're not a Shadowhunter anymore so why do they care? What are they going to do, even if they did find out? Imprison you? They can't. You belong to the U.S. government now."

"I don't _belong _to it," Kristy corrected him. "And anyway, for the hundredth time I don't remember. I probably wouldn't even be able to draw a simple healing rune..." Kristy's voice trailed off thoughtfully. She hastily dug through the box again.

"What are you looking for now?"

"Wow! I'd completely forgotten about this!" exclaimed Kristy, holding a small, velvet black book. "I used to keep a diary in those days. Maybe if I wrote something down." Kristy began flipping through the pages. She glanced up at Jace for a moment. "Well, I'll never find anything if you keep _staring_ at me like some sort of creep."

Jace scowled, but was not about to argue with Kristy's logic. He turned and left her bedroom. He was pacing the room impatiently when there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Jace said, then muttered under his breath, "Now is not the time for your lousy boyfriend to make a surprise appearance, Kristy."

"It's me, Jace," Clary said softly.

_You certainly shouldn't be making a surprise appearance either, _Jace thought but eagerly opened the door anyway. "Clary," he said simply and then lowered his head and kissed her. _Ok, that felt weird._ "How is everyone holding up?"

"Not well. The Clave has managed to hold off another attack for now. They're telling the Downworlders that Valentine was the one who killed all those Downworlders and are attempting, once again, to negotiate peace. Alec and Isabelle are debating over whether or not they should go to Idris," Clary said.

"What did the Downworlders do?"

"They say if they can prove that it was Valentine, somehow, then they'll call off another attack."

"How bad was the first attack?"

Clary shrugged. "It's a war, Jace, so pretty bad. I mean, the Shadowhunters managed to hold their own but there were some deaths. The Lightwoods are ok, though. Maryse, Robert, and Max I mean."

Despite his difficulties with Maryse and Robert, Jace felt a sense of relief.

"But the Clave has no idea how to prove this and would rather fight an entire army of Downworlders than face Valentine again...Is he really that bad, Jace? So bad that they'd rather go to war?"

"You don't know him like the rest of us do," Jace said flatly.

Clary shuddered. Was this really her father? Starting a war? "Valentine got what he wanted," she said as she shook her head in disgust.

Jace suddenly went rigid, an icy chill shooting down his spine. His face froze, stunned.

"What's wrong?" Clary asked tensely.

Jace swore before saying, "Oh, Clary. I just did something really stupid...but it's not too late! At least I don't think it is."

"What do you mean?" Clary demanded but Jace turned around and glanced at the bedroom.

"Kristy better finish up in there soon!"

Clary wrinkled her nose. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Not that," Jace said quickly. His thoughts were racing by too fast and his words were getting jumbled. "Kristy!" he called as he went over to her bedroom door.

"Jace, tell me what's going on now!" Clary demanded again.

He knocked on her door hastily.

"Come in!" Kristy called, followed by a muttering of, "Can't even wait a full minute before losing his patience."

Apparently, Jace heard that because he said, "This is really important, Kristy. You have to draw me immediately!"

"And why is that?"

"The Clave doesn't know. No one does. No one knows that Valentine is waiting for the Downworlders to weaken the Shadowhunter army, that he has an entire army of his own prepared to attack, and that he plans on invading the Clave."

"How do you know all this and the Clave does not?" Kristy argued.

"Because I spoke with Valentine the other day when he made that offer to me! Remember? And the Clave suspects Valentine has been behind the Downworlder attacks but they're terrified of him and are too afraid to take action. If they keep fighting with the Downworlders, their army will weaken and Valentine will strike. We have to warn everyone!"

"But the Clave already offered to make peace a few times!" Clary pointed out miserably. "What use is it? And doesn't the Clave at least suspect Valentine has formed another army?"

"If they do, they refuse to believe it. They just don't want to but maybe I can prove it to them. Maybe if they knew how much danger they're all in, they'd least come up with a good defensive strategy! No matter what we have to do something, or at least I do. I can't just sit around and do nothing. So you see you have to draw me."

Kristy raised her eyebrows. "Technically I don't."

"Yes, you do! I have to warn everyone!" Jace barked angrily.

"Well, you said earlier you could see through glamour now so you don't need to be a Shadowhunter to warn them. Also Clary could just warn them or even I could-"

_"Give me my runes, Kristy!" _

"Relax! I was kidding...kind of. Just give me a few more minutes with my diary. I wrote a lot about runes and my crush on Valentine so I might be able to find something."

"Your crush on _who_?" Clary asked as Jace half-dragged her out of the room.

Eventually Kristy stepped outside her bedroom. "I had written a diary entry on the day I learned how to draw the Restoring rune, but I'm still not sure how it looks." Kristy grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. With deep concentration, she attempted to draw the rune again. She drew a curved line with two more lines emerging from it. The line coming out from the right had another line cutting through it. "I think it looks something like this but Jace it's been so long. Does this rune look familiar to you?"

Jace glanced at the paper and shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Jace. I can't remember exactly what it looks like. It's been so long."

Jace looked sick.

"I'm sorry," Clary whispered. More than anything, at that moment Clary wanted Jace to be a Shadowhunter again. She stared at the paper, studying the elegant, but strong curves of the rune. "If there was anything I could do I'd...hold on." A picture was forming in Clary's head, thick and black and powerful. She glanced at the paper. "Kristy, can I try something?"

"What?"

"I think I see something...I think I see the rune. I can't explain it. Looking at that paper just created a shape in my head."

Kristy, still puzzled, handed Clary her pencil. Jace stared at her in a curious, analyzing sort of way. It made her nervous, but she ignored him and focused on the paper. Clary's hand involuntarily erased the line cutting through the right line emerging from the main line. She drew it instead through the left line and then gave the right line a slight curve. She put the pencil down.

"There," she breathed.

Kristy stared at the paper and exclaimed, "Yes! _Yes!_ That's the Restoring rune! Clary, you're a genius!"

"No, I'm not. You helped a lot. If I hadn't looked at your attempt to draw the rune I don't think the real Restoring rune would've came to me at all.

How did you do that?" she asked, stunned.

Clary shrugged. "I don't know. I just-"

"Who cares how she did it?" Jace argued. "All that matters now is that someone draws it on me."

"You do it," Clary said to Kristy. "I've never even used a stele before."

Kristy grabbed her stele as Jace rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out. He could see Kristy's right hand shaking slightly with nerves.

"Will this hurt?" Jace asked Kristy. He didn't sound scared, just curious.

Kristy smiled softly. It was sometimes hard for her to believe that Jace was actually a child, only sixteen. He had such a rough exterior. Underneath it all she knew there was a child in him, someone who wanted to be loved and was afraid to love others. His eyes were a dead giveaway. Like now, his eyes showed he was nervous if not afraid.

"Close you eyes and pretend you're standing in front of the ocean if you can. The sea breeze is lifting your fair hair and the water feels good in your toes. The rhythm of the waves soothes you."

"You're trying to be all paternal again."

"Hey, if you're going to be a smart ass while I do this then-"

"Ok, ok. Fine." Jace closed his eyes and pictured the ocean as Kristy said. He found it surprisingly relaxing.

The silence in the room was thick as Kristy carefully drew the rune. The moment the stele reached Jace's skin, a rush of heat ran up his arm like the spark of a flame. Clary watched anxiously as Kristy took her time drawing the Restoring rune.

"There," she said when she was done.

Jace finally opened his eyes and looked at the rune. He waited with bated breath for something to happen. After a moment the rune, to his shock, seemed to have dissolved _into _his skin.

"Nothing happened," Jace said with suppressed rage. "That must have been what happened to the other runes when I was stripped."

"I guess that's it then," Kristy said grimly.

But then, Jace gasped. His skin gave the illusion that it was moving and a strange glow came off it. Suddenly, inky black lines began forming everywhere on his skin. Slowly defense, offense, and speed runes were visible and eventually every rune Jace had worn when he'd been stripped had returned to his body.

Clary gasped and Kristy stared in astonishment. As for Jace, he looked as if he was trying to look at his entire body in one glance, eyes darting from the runes on his arms to the ones on his chest as he lifted his shirt up. Finally, he bolted into Kristy's room again, removed his shirt, and stared at his body in the full length mirror on Kristy's closet door.

And for the first time in months, Jace saw his reflection. The real Jace Wayland, runes and all. He'd never indulged in his physical appearance more than at that one moment. Jace held his chin up and smirked with smug satisfaction. He grabbed hold of a handful of Kristy's weapons.

Kristy came in with Clary trailing behind her. "Jace," Clary said breathlessly. His back was to her but she could see his reflection in the mirror. He looked so beautiful to her, but when she saw his expression, she realized how frightening he looked as well. Like he was ready to kill someone and he'd enjoy doing it.

"Thanks for drawing me," Jace said, his eyes glittering dangerously.

"Woah there, tough guy," Kristy said immediately. "What do you plan on doing with those weapons?"

"Just doing a little demon hunting," Jace said, his voice as relaxed as someone who had just told her he was going to take a stroll through the park. He didn't bother to turn and face her.

"Oh, no way you're not! If you get hurt while hunting demons because I drew you a Restoring rune I'll never forgive myself. Give me the weapons, Jace."

Now Jace turned, swiftly. "Come on, Kristy, don't be stupid! I was a Shadowhunter for years. I know how to hunt demons!"

"Yes, but it's been months since you've done so. How do I know you haven't lost your touch? You've lost weight since I've first met you. And on top of all that you don't have any Shadowhunter gear! You know that's for more than just looking hot, right? What if a demon bites you and you get poisoned?"

"Would you shut up for just one minute?" Jace cried. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

"Jace, it sounds dangerous," Clary said.

"It's in me. I've been sitting around doing nothing for so long I've got to break away. I've got to get out and burn all this lose energy."

"Then hop on a treadmill!" Kristy exclaimed.

Jace shoved past the two of them and raced toward the front door.

"Get him!" Kristy cried dramatically. They chased Jace down, but neither one was fast enough.

"I'll be fine!" Jace said, taunting them, as he ran down the hall and toward the stairs. Besides, like you said, Clary can go warn the Clave anyway."

**A/N: I have to say that the feedback I've been getting from this story is by far the best I've ever had! I can't thank everyone enough for all the praise and private messages people have sent me telling me how much they've enjoyed this story. Thanks everyone and by the way, I really don't like this chapter's song (Gasp! But it's like, the most famous rock song ever!) but it was just too perfect with the whole returning to the Shadowhunters and black leather thing. Please review this because I'm getting close to 100 reviews!**


	16. Chapter 15: Parting

Fallen Gold

Chapter 15: Parting

_"An angel got his wings, and we'll hold our heads up knowing that he's fine. We'd all be lucky to have a love like that in a lifetime. Friends stay side by side. In life and death you've always stole my heart. You've always meant so much to me, it's hard to believe." -Bayside_

Jace stood up, blood streaked and caked in dirt and slime. He could easily be mistaken for a brunette his hair was so dirty, and his muscles ached with fatigue. Slowly, he removed his dagger from the demon and spat a mouthful of coppery tasting blood from his mouth. He took a moment to catch his breath and bask in a cool breeze that was gone as soon as it had come. It had been a chilly night, the end of summer approaching soon, but it wasn't cold enough for someone who had just gone demon hunting and he was drenched in sweat. He looked down at his battered body to see that his shirt had been ripped to shreds and his jeans had only just managed to avoid a similar fate. His left knee was severely wounded. Jace touched it gingerly and winced. He limped over to the stele he had dropped earlier and quickly drew a Healing rune.

In short, it was the best Jace had felt in ages.

Jace sighed with relief as the rune soothed his pain. He looked up to see the sky streaked yellow and crimson. The sun was just rising, greeting Manhattan for another morning. Jacerealized only now that he'd spent the entire night demon hunting and in case Maryse and Robert were wondering, _no_. Jace hadn't lost his touch even a little, _thank you very much_. He struggled to his feet and decided it was about time he headed to the Institute to see what kind of damage had been done now.

Jace quietly crept through the hallway and into the bathroom. Everyone appeared to be asleep. This was good because now he could lie and say he'd returned around midnight but this was also bad because, admittedly, he wanted to talk to someone now. He was too restless to even attempt to sleep and physically didn't have it in him to continue demon hunting without giving his body a break. After a long shower (the tub now filthy) Jace went into his room.

_At least they didn't try to sell my stuff, _Jace thought, amused yet grim, as he entered his room. It was exactly the way he'd left it, not an item out of place. It was sort of sad but the familiarity was also comforting. Jace locked the door to his room and changed. He'd never gotten a chance to pick up his old clothes after his exile. It was nice to be back in his old sweatpants and dark gray shirt rather than the stuff Kristy had bought him.

Jace was too restless and had the strong desire to wake someone up just so he didn't have to be alone. He'd been alone for far too long now. However, upon collapsing onto his bed, he discovered he was indeed exhausted. He decided to stretch out and close his eyes for a moment, maybe even take a quick nap.

Immediately upon closing his eyes, Jace fell into a deep sleep. He was finally at peace.

* * *

Hours later, Clary woke Jace up. He was dreaming, but he couldn't remember what, and then awakened to the feel of his shoulders gently swaying from side to side. His eyes fluttered open, fixed on Clary.

"Are you awake?" Clary whispered.

"No," Jace replied, mocking her affectionately (but also taunting her) by whispering as well. "I always sleep with my eyes open."

"Very funny."

"Did you have to wake me?" Jace murmured, still half-asleep.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's just I stayed up for as long as I could, waiting for you to return to the Institute, but I fell asleep waiting. I think around three in the morning."

Jace smirked. Clary hated that she found it wildly attractive. "That's so sweet that you stayed up for me. That way if I had died you would've known right away rather than after a good night's sleep."

Clary rolled her eyes. "I thought you'd be in a good mood! You got what you wanted after all."

Jace felt a little sorry at that moment. He was happy. Very happy in fact. But he was now a fugitive and quite cranky after being woken up.

"You can't rely on good looks forever you know."

Jace grinned. He sat up on his bed, allowing his feet to rest on the soft carpet, and ran a hand through his hair, which was ruffled messily from sleep. Jace glanced to the window in his room. Outside the sun was bright, clearly he'd slept through the morning. It had to be at least noon. "Is that a confession? I knew you thought I was gorgeous." He chuckled. "And all this time you've been denying it."

"I never denied that you were good looking. I just had the audacity to think you actually have a good personality. All I'm saying is that one day you'll be old and gray and you're attitude will just be another reason people will want to stay away from you."

Jace shrugged. "With the way my life has turned out so far I'll surely be dead long before that so I don't plan on changing any time soon."

The way he'd said that, with such acceptance and without any sarcasm or humor, made Clary shudder.

Jace appeared to have picked up on this, for he said quickly, "You shouldn't have waited up for me."

He walked past her and over to his dresser. He began searching through the dresser, looking at his old clothes as proof that his old life was back. In the top draw was a black jacket. This was Jace's favorite jacket, evidence of this in the slightly worn material and the hole in his left sleeve.

"I woke up just now and Alec told me you'd come back. He said he'd checked your room early this moring to see if you'd come home while we were all sleeping and saw you. He sounded relieved. We're all relieved. Kristy and I frightened the others when we told them you'd gone on some kind of crazy demon raid."

Jace shrugged into the jacket. Not because he was cold, though it was a cool day. He simply wanted to wear clothing that linked him to his return to the Nephilim world. "Well, obviously I've been gone far too long because they should've remembered I'm the best there is when it comes to Shadowhunting, even if I was on hiatus. You don't forget how to hunt demons. It's just _in_ you. It's like...what's that mundane expression?"

"Riding a bike," Clary said dryly.

"That's right. You don't forget how to ride a bike and you don't forget how to brutally murder creatures that spend all

their time lurking in the depths of Hell until they decide to come and invade our dear planet."

"Everyone is worried the Clave is going to find out you're here and punish them too," Clary said, trying not to let Jace steer off topic too much.

"Oh, they don't have to be. I won't be here for long."

"What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"To Idris, of course. That's why Kristy drew the Restoring rune, remember?"

"No, Kristy drew the Restoring rune because you were miserable and-let's just be honest now that's over anyway-pitiful in your former state."

"Ok, so I would've had Kristy draw me no matter what, but at least in this situation I have good reason."

"We just came here to alert Hodge and the Clave, didn't we? I didn't know we planned on going to Idris."

"Correction,_ I'm _going to Idris. Alec, Isabelle, Kristy, and Hodge can do whatever they want. As for you," Jace stared at Clary, his expression serious for once, "you're staying here."

"Why?" Clary cried indignantly.

"Because it's not safe, obviously."

"So everyone else can go but I can't? Shows how much you care about them!"

"Well, Hodge, and technically Alec, and Kristy are all adults so I can't stop them from going. As for Isabelle, she's a trained Shadowhunter. She doesn't need protection and even if she does I'll be there."

"What do you plan on doing in Idris?"

"Well, the others will warn the Clave but I'm not going. If I go they'll be stupid and make a big deal out of me and forget all about what really matters, stopping Valentine. As for me I'm just going to visit my homeland. I want to see Idris again."

"You want to see your old home while it's on the brink of war? Very poor timing."

_I want to go and stop Valentine, _Jace thought, but knew he could never say this to Clary. "I agree, but my poor timing is less in part of the war that's started and more to do with you and having to leave you behind when we only just started putting things together."

Clary's expression softened. "I suppose that's true."

"Hey, Clary, don't think for a minute that, now that I'm a Shadowhunter again, I no longer feel the way I do. You may have been my one and only reason for living during the time I was a mundane but you're still my reason for living now. The things I said to you last night, I still mean them. I still mean every word."

Admittedly, she had been afraid that Jace would no longer need her now that he was a Shadowhunter again. "Glad to hear it," she said, touched.

Jace grinned-it was a rare sight to see Jace give a smile that was genuinely happy. "Glad to tell you."

* * *

After their talk Clary had gone back downstairs. As for Jace, he was still weary from last night. So he rolled over in bed and fell asleep for another hour before greeting everyone else.

"Jace, you're _home!" _Isabelle exclaimed dramatically when Jace met up with the others downstairs. She flitted across the room and greeted Jace with a warm hug. He immediately stiffened.

"And we're all criminals! _Yay!" _Alec said, emulating Isabelle's enthusiasm, but Jace could tell his heart wasn't really into it.

Hodge had his head buried into his hand and was shaking it slowly. "This is not good. This is certainly not good," he murmured to himself.

Jace awkwardly broke away from Isabelle and looked to Hodge. He'd missed his mentor and was disappointed with himself to see that he'd already upset him. "I'm leaving soon. So if the Clave asks, just tell them you had no idea I was here. I'm heading to Idris and you don't have to have any evidence that I'd ever returned."

"When will you do what you're told?" Hodge asked in exasperation.

"I don't blame him this time," Isabelle said quietly.

Jace was glad to have her defending him, but he didn't need it. "Nobody _told _me to leave this all behind, Hodge. I'm Nephilim. I was _forced_ to leave so I came back. And no one in here can tell me they wouldn't do the same if they had the chance."

"So you're leaving?" Alec asked. "When?"

"As soon as I can. Are you all going to Idris?"

"Mom and Dad don't like the idea of us all going, but they know I'm an adult and this is what we train for after all. So as soon as they send Max back home for Hodge to look after Isabelle and I are going to meet them there."

Jace nodded, the familiar pang of concern for his friends hitting him. A Shadowhunter didn't have the luxury of security though, and Jace had grown accustomed to pushing this concern away.

"Have you heard from Sebastion, Hodge?" Isabelle asked.

"Who's Sebastion?" asked Jace.

"I haven't," Hodge said and then to Jace, "He was a Shadowhunter who had taken refuge here about a month ago and recently he left for Idris. We don't know if he's coming back. Oh, Jace, you should probably go and talk to Kristy. She's been waiting to talk to you. It sounded important."

"Oh, no. Where is she?"

"Her room is on the second floor, across from Alec's room."

"This can't be good," Jace said, but set off to find Kristy anyway.

Jace knocked on Kristy's door. "You there?" When no one answered he allowed himself in.

He sat on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently. After a while he grew bored and, feeling absent-minded, opened the draw of the bedside table. Kristy's necklace was in it. Curious, he held the necklace by its chain, allowing the tiny dagger to dangle right before his eyes. It seemed unbelievable that something so small could be so deadly.

Kristy entered. Jace quickly shoved to necklace into the pocket of the jacket he still hadn't removed and then wished he'd had enough time to put it back in the draw. "Hey," Jace said, resolving that he'd put it back later when she wasn't around so that he wouldn't be caught looking through her stuff,

He prepared himself for a fight. Kristy was surely going to scold him for taking off the other night. She had no right though! It wasn't as if she was his mother.

"I need to talk to you," Kristy said, concern etched on her face.

"Really? Well, I guess it was easy to find me since I was in your room for no good reason."

"It's not about yesterday. It's about something else."

Jace shrugged. "You have my attention."

"I know you're going to Idris, Jace. I was talking to Clary before. She's not stupid, you know. She knows you're not just going to run to the homeland that exiled you to pay a visit while a war is coming...or has started. I'm not even sure but that's not the point. We suspect you're going to try to stop Valentine or fight in the war or whatever." Jace opened his mouth to object, but Kristy cut him off. "I'm not here to stop you. You clearly are going to do whatever the hell you want to do. I just...I guess I just want you to be careful. Can you promise me you'll be careful?"

"I can."

"What are you going to do in Idris?"

"I'm going to try to stop Valentine."

Kristy shook her head. "Jace, no. That's suicide."

"You just said you weren't going to try to stop me."

"But Jace, can't you see the problem here? Even the strongest of Shadowhunters wouldn't do so without a plan!"

"But if I kill him-and don't think I don't have it in me to-I can prove myself to the Clave and they'll let me back in."

"Ok, fine. _How_ are you going to kill Valentine? You don't even know where he is!"

"I'll figure it out. I grew up there, remember?"

"Jace, if you get killed in Idris after I drew you the Restoring rune, I'll never forgive myself."

"What else is there for me, Kristy? I would rather die a Shadowhunter than live to be a hundred years as a mundane. Trust me when I say you saved me."

"At least let me come with you. We can fight this together."

"Absolutely not."

"What is it with you and your never ending need to isolate yourself from everyone? Why do you have to force yourself to be so alone when so many people who love you and care about you are right here at the Institute?"

"Because I'm_ dangerous!"_

Kristy scoffed. "That's asinine!"

"No, it's not! The longer I stay here at the Institute, the more of a danger I am to the Lightwoods and Hodge! They're legally not allowed to be around me. I have to get out of here. When Maryse, Robert, and Max come through the Portal I'm going to jump through to Idris with Alec and Izzy."

"Hodge is never going to let you do that!" Kristy protested. "I know it's been a while, but I do still remember that you need permission from the Clave to legally Portal to Idris!"

"Hodge has no choice. If he lets me stay here and the Clave finds out he could be removed as head of the Institute or worse, stripped like me. And the Clave will surely find out if this war goes on for a while. I'm sure Shadowhunters, especially those with children, will take refuge here. So Hodge has to let me go through for his own sake."

Kristy never had a chance to retort because there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Clary.

"Hi," Kristy said.

Clary looked to Kristy, then to Jace as she said, "I guess you're going to Idris."

Jace swallowed and then nervously licked his lips. "Yeah."

"Do you really think you can stop Valentine?" Clary asked, her voice breaking.

"I have to try. If I don't I can never return to my old life, even if the Clave doesn't strike back and this war ends soon. I'll be a fugitive forever. At least if I find and stop Valentine my chances are good."

"I think my mother and Luke were taken to Idris." Clary's lower lip trembled.

"You know there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, right?" Jace said, to Clary's astonishment. "But this comes first. Don't you see? It has to come first. If I do stop Valentine they'll be safe again. The Downworlders will see that it was Valentine all along and the war will end. I promise I'll do everything I can to help them."

"When are the Lightwoods coming?" Kristy asked.

"Tomorrow evening."

"That soon?" Kristy asked grimly. "Very well. I'll be in the training room until then."

_"What?"_

"I'm going to Idris too."

"You're _not_ coming with me!"

"I know I'm not, but I have to help in any way I can. So I'm going to Idris to offer my services to the Clave."

"This isn't your fight, Kristy. You left."

"Of course it's my fight! You can't run away from your race. I'm Nephilim and I have to accept that. I'm going to do this, Jace, and don't try to change my mind." With that, Kristy turned and exited the corridor.

"Jace, I want to come to Idris," Clary said, tense but determined.

Jace groaned in disgust. "Ugh! Why does everyone have to get involved? Will it make you feel important or something? You have no idea what our world is like!"

"You heard what Kristy said and it applies to me too! I'm Nephilim. I have to go."

Jace laughed bitterly. "You're not Nephilim, Clary. I mean, sure, it's in your blood, but you have no idea what type of training it takes to be a Shadowhunter. We're _warriors_. It's like joining the army. You don't just get sent straight into battle without any training, do you? You can't just say you want to be a Shadowhunter and then become one. It takes years of training. That's why we start so young."

"But my mother! And Luke. How could I just sit here and wait around while they could be in serious danger. For all I know they could be..." Clary swallowed the lump in her throat that prevented her from saying dead. "You train me then. Please? Don't go to Idris tomorrow. Train me as quickly and efficiently as possible and then we'll go to Idris."

"I cannot possibly sum up a life time's worth of training in, I don't know, say a week. And I don't have time to train you. I have to leave. I can't just Portal in and out of Idris whenever I please. You have to pay a warlock to Portal and you need the Clave's permission. Tomorrow is my only opportunity to get to Idris.

"So you see there really is no possibility of you ever being able to help us. I know that's hard to hear, but I'm sorry, Clary, it's the truth. I will do everything in my power to try and help your mom and Luke. That's the least I can do for you right now. I can guarantee you that finding Valentine will lead me on the right path to them so at least I'll start off on the right foot."

Clary tried hard not to scream. This should be good news. It wasn't her fault she was completely useless and now she was able to stay safe, but how could she just sit back and let other people fix her problems? Risk their lives? Tomorrow night nothing would be the same. Isabelle and Alec were going off to help the Shadowhunter cause and Jace...Jace was going on a suicide mission.

"Jace," Clary said weakly. Her voice was choking on tears and her eyes were shining. "Please, don't do this. There has to be another way."

Jace couldn't look her in the eye. "I'm afraid there isn't."

"But do you have to be a Shadowhunter? Can't you just be happy with what you have?"

"What do I have?" Jace snapped forcefully.

"Me," she whispered.

Jace placed his hand under Clary's chin and gently lifted her face. "This is the way I was raised, Clary. To fight for the Nephilim at all costs. You know how much you mean to me, that you're the reason I was even able to live as a mundane. You know that you saved me, don't you? But I have to do this and when I succeed, I'll save your mother and Luke." He cupped Clary's cheek and she put her hand over his, closing her eyes.

"I'll miss you."

"You won't be alone for long."

Clary took Jace's hand away from her cheek and gently kissed his fingers. "I want us to spend every second of tonight together."

"I don't think I can-" Jace began but Clary put her fingers to his lips, silencing him. She removed them and gently kissed him.

Clary attempted to memorize everything from his warm fingers to the shape of his lips. She looked into his eyes, fascinated with all that made Jace who he was.

He smiled tauntingly. "What are your intentions, Miss?"

She grabbed his hair in her hands, feeling the smooth gold in her fingers. "I intend for you to hold me and never let go."

Jace's expression saddened. "I have to prepare. I can't just go to Idris tomorrow night without a little bit of training and getting my weapons together. It's been a while you know."

"You still have tomorrow. And last night wasn't exactly a mission you prepared for."

"I know. Last night was just me be crazy and stupid and running into something. This is serious business though."

"Just for a few more minutes."

Jace smiled, defeated. "I'll come find you later on tonight. We can look at the stars."

And that was exactly what Jace did. After he spent time training he went to Clary's room, still in Shadowhunter gear, and took her out to the balcony of the Institute. There they sat side by side and stared at the nighttime sky.

"We're so small when you think about it," Clary said softly.

"I'm going to be ok, Clary," Jace said. "You know that right?"

A chill ran up Clary's spine. "I'm worried about you."

He took hold of her hand, her fingers cold. "I intend to return to you."

Clary kissed him tenderly. "You should go to bed now. Get some rest for tomorrow, you know?"

"In a few minutes," Jace said. But in a few minutes, he fell asleep, as did Clary, and the two were pleasantly surprised to wake up next to each other the following morning.

* * *

After Alec, Isabelle, and Jace (who had been right about Hodge having no choice but to let him go to Idris) had left the following evening Clary was rather depressed. It was a quick goodbye, the three of them in full Shadowhunter gear, Isabelle's hair pulled out of her face and Jace wearing that beloved jacket of his again. Isabelle and Alec had been eager to see their parents again and Jace wanted it to be as quick and painless as possible.

Clary sat on an overstuffed arm chair in the library while Hodge talked to Max Lightwood and the warlock who had created the Portal. The warlock, Magnus Bane, was asking Hodge about what Alec planned on doing in Idris. Clary couldn't help but notice he seemed especially concerned about his well being.

She couldn't get the evening before out of her head. All she could think about was how wonderful it had been and how unfair it was to her that couples at her school got to spend every day together and she had to just pray Jace would return in one piece, like an army wife. Jace's beautiful, angular face swan in her head all day. The way she felt when he touched her, the feelings that aroused within her, were cemented into her mind. As was his voice, smile, and mannerisms.

Clary shook her head, forcing Jace to disappear from her mind. Things would only get worse if she worried about him for the next...Exactly how long was Jace going to be in Idris for? _Stop! _Clary thought angrily.

She needed to distract herself. Unfortunately, the first thing Clary thought of when she tried not to think about Jace was her mom and Luke. This wasn't getting her anywhere. She thought maybe she should ask Hodge to train her. Then she could head to Idris and try to help. Although, Hodge didn't look like he'd done any serious Shadowhunting in quite some time. With nothing to do, Clary miserably decided to find something to eat; out of needing a distraction more than hunger.

It was empty and dark downstairs. Clary turned on the light in the kitchen and began to dig through the fridge. She grabbed a mug from the cabinet instead and decided to make coffee, knowing it was probably a stupid idea. As if she wouldn't have trouble sleeping tonight as it was.

When it was ready, Clary poured herself a hot cup and went to the fridge for milk. Oddly enough, she wished she was sitting at the table and sharing a horrified glance with Alec as they waited for Isabelle's freshly cooked meal. She must've taken the two Lightwoods for granted because she suddenly missed their presence.

"Turn around, Miss Morgenstern," a chilling voice said.

Clary jumped nearly a foot in the air and then jumped again at the sound of her mug crashing onto the tiled floor. Coffee stained her shoes. She whirled around to see Sebastion, though this was the first time she felt she really saw him.

Sebastion was standing in front of the table, fully geared. His dark hair fell into his eyes casually and he wore a charming but frightening sort of smirk.

Clary tried not to look so alarmed. It was only Sebastion after all. But there was something about the look in his eyes...

"S-Sebastion. What are you-"

"Play time is over, Clarissa. It's time you returned to your homeland. You ready to meet your daddy?"


	17. Chapter 16: Never Let Go

Fallen Gold

Chapter 16: Never Let Go

_"I want you to know with everything, I won't let this go. These words are my heart and soul. I'll hold on to this moment you know, cause I'll bleed my heart out to show and I won't let go." -Sum 41 _

The irony was not lost on Clary. She felt she should be jumping on the only opportunity she had been given to make it to Idris and help her mother, Luke, the Lightwoods, and Jace. Of course, jumping through a Portal with Sebastion at this moment was probably the equivalent of jumping off a bridge. There was something about the way he was looking at her that set off an alarm in her head. She'd never liked Sebastion before this moment and her gut instinct was now telling her to run as fast as she could.

Yet her feet remained glued to the ground. "My...my Father?" Clary stuttered stupidly. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't think I ever proposed any sort of _suggestion _to you, Clarrisa. I just asked if you were ready to meet him."

"And I'm not," Clary said irritably.

"Well, ready or not it's going to happen. Now. The Portal I've been using is down an alley about a block from here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Clary said, sounding extremely brave and feeling very frightened. She knew just by looking at Sebastion that, if it came down to it, he'd get violent. She had no idea what to do. The last thing she wanted to do was meet Valentine in person and she certainly couldn't fight someone like Sebastion.

_What would Jace do?_ Clary thought instinctively. _Probably say something sarcastic and then punch him in the face._ But Clary was neither witty nor strong enough to do those things.

Sebastion had just lost what was left of his patience. He stepped forward, successfully intimidating Clary, and held out his hand. It wasn't a welcoming gesture. "We're going to Idris, Clarissa, _now. _Father wants to meet you. He finds you fascinating, really." This seemed to anger Sebastion, though she couldn't imagine why. "So follow me through the Portal back to Idris or I swear I won't make your trip pleasant." This, on the other hand, seemed to delight him. He stepped even closer to her and Clary could see he was armed with a myriad of weapons.

This terrified Clary. It suddenly hit her that she was actually being threatened by a Shadowhunter. Here was another ironic situation: The world Jace had been so sure he'd been keeping her away from just knocked on her front door and stepped in, uninvited.

Clary's heart began to race. _Think, think, think. _She thought about screaming desperately and having the others come to her rescue, but would they have time to reach her before Sebastion pinned her down and killed her? Certainly not. But wouldn't Sebastion have to keep her alive for Valentine? She looked at Sebastion and his amused smirk, the malicious glint in his eyes. He may have been a follower of Valentine all along, but that probably didn't mean he'd make sure she was alive and well for him. In fact, he seemed itching for the opportunity to kill her and a little upset over the thought of bringing her to Valentine. No, Clary wasn't about to take that chance.

Feeling even more helpless now, she looked away from him and at the counter and cabinets behind her. She knew what she would do then, eyeing the utensil draw thoughtfully._ I have to at least try to fight, _she resolved. "My name is Clary," she murmured under her breath.

"What?" Sebastion asked impatiently.

Clary yanked the draw open, grabbed a steak knife, and whirled around to face Sebastion again.

"I said my _name is Clary!_" she yelled, thrusting the knife forward and straight at Sebastion, but she wasn't nearly fast enough. He leaped _over_ the knife and backward, landing right in front of the kitchen table. His speed was unimaginable.

To Clary's astonishment, he was grinning with such amusement. "That was a cute little trick, Clarissa." He then lunged at her. Clary didn't even have time to react. Sebastion grabbed hold of both her wrists and pulled her forward sharply. Then he let go of her abruptly so that she crashed into a chair behind her and fell to the floor.

Clary gasped for breath, too shocked at how swift he was to even get up. Suddenly, Sebastion was standing over her. She hadn't even seen him move from his former spot. He was holding a knife...an especially sharp knife.

She was in way over her head. There was no way she was going to win this fight. _I have to give in, _she thought fearfully. She was about to resign and take the plunge; go to Idris with Sebastion and endure whatever it was Valentine planned on doing to her. And then a voice in her head teased her. It said, _"Jace wouldn't dare go down this easily._ _He'd rather die fighting than surrender."_

_Then he's a fool, _Clary told the voice bitterly, but despite that she screamed, "_Help! Help! _Hodge, Magnus,_ help!"_

Sebastion gritted his teeth in anger and Clary saw the knife gleam under the light as it flew toward her. She had just enough time to roll out of the way and scramble to her feet. She quickly tried to escape when she saw the tall, thin, Magnus Bane enter.

"Magnus!" she exclaimed, but then gasped in shock as she felt Sebastion grab her arms and pull them behind her back. He pricked her throat with the knife, a ruby red dot of blood appearing at her neck. Clary was completely frozen with fear.

"One move, and she's done for," Sebastion snarled. "I can't believe they let someone like _you _here," he added with disgust as he eyed Magnus's glittery attire and brightly colored hair. "It's bad enough you're a filthy Downworlder."

Magnus appeared completely unfazed by any of this. His expression nonchalant., he lifted a long leg and took a single step forward. Sebastion dug the knife a little bit deeper. Clary cried out in terror. "What did I just say?" he barked, his expression murderous. "You Lilith's Children are all the same. A bunch of brain dead _freaks_."

"Well, that wasn't very nice," Magnus said coolly. "I may have to report your behavior to the Clave."

"That won't be an option for long," Sebastion said with a smirk. "Soon I'll be able to say whatever I want about scum like you. Soon it won't matter how offensive you find the things I say."

"It wasn't what you said. It was the way you said it," Magnus said with an over-the-top indignant sniff.

"Magnus!" Clary shrieked desperately, breathing in short, small breaths. The knife was digging deeper into her neck, blood running down the front of her shirt now, and he was playing games with the Shadowhunter holding it!

"Stay put, Downworlder! This is your final warning!" Sebastion cried.

One side of Magnus's mouth tilted just a little bit. "You stupid, silly Shadowhunter."

In the blink of an eye, Magnus's hand shot forward and a blast of blue magic in the form of a long, thin, beam shot over Clary's head and hit Sebastion. Clary gasped and ducked before Sebastion had the chance to drive the blade into her neck. Of course, Sebastion was not thinking of Clary at all as he knocked into the wall and crumpled to the floor.

Holding the wound in her neck in an attempt to clot the thin stream of blood, Clary raced over to Magnus. "Where's Hodge? Max?" she asked quickly.

"They're fine. Hodge has Max. Clary, get _out _of here," Magnus said hastily as he pushed Clary toward the exit.

Clary didn't hesitate. She bolted out of the kitchen, but where would she go? She skidded to a halt and tried to think. She could go home...but to leave Magnus in the middle of a fight to the death? She may be small and inexperienced but there had to be something she could do. Clary dashed into the weapons room and grabbed a handful of daggers, knives, steles, and seraph blades. She knew she couldn't carry them all so she grabbed a belt too.

Upon returning to the kitchen, Clary could see that she was walking into chaos. The table and chairs were all knocked over and Magnus and Sebastion were both wearing furious expressions. Magnus shot another beam of magic at Sebastion. He leaped out of the way and the cabinet behind him was hit. It burst apart and dozens of bowls and plates smashed to the floor.

Sebastion's eyes wandered over to Clary and he was suddenly no longer interested in Magnus.

"Clary, get out of here!" Magnus shouted.

Clary fumbled for a blade as Sebastion charged at her. He was stopped by a blast from Magnus, though, and fell to the floor in a heap. Magnus ran over to Clary.

"You have to get out of here!" Magnus cried.

"Just let me help you!" Clary pleaded. "I'm sick of being useless! I want to help!"

"Just leave!"

_"No!"_

By then, Sebastion had scrambled to his feet and chucked a blade straight at Clary. She gasped and ducked in time.

"Then I'll have to force you to leave!" Magnus created a Portal.

"NO! That's where-" But Magnus cut her off when he grabbed a handful of Clary's hair and pulled her into the Portal.

The last thing she saw was Sebastion's shocked expression turning slowly into a grin.

* * *

Clary screamed, her hands reaching out to grab something, but nothing was there of course. Half the weapons she had been carrying had fallen out of her belt since she hadn't had enough time to secure everything properly.

All she could think of was how angry she was with Magnus. Sebastion had wanted Clary to go to Idris to be sent to Valentine! Now she was halfway there! How could he have not known that?

Then she thought of Jace. If she found him, what would happen? He most likely would be furious. Despite this, she hoped she would find him. He'd be able to help her, to protect her...

Clary's landing was not smooth. Though she fell onto smooth, compact earth, she landed with a _thud _and her stomach clenched. She brushed the dirt off the front of her shirt, now stained with blood from her throat, and looked around in wonder.

So this was Idris, the homeland Jace spoke so fondly of. The homeland that exiled him and destroyed everything that meant something to him. It was beautiful, she couldn't doubt that, but looks can often be misleading. Lush green grass stretched out for miles and the moon cast a pale glow throughout. She had to keep herself safe. What if some Downworlders roaming around late at night found her? Would they believe her if she told them she wasn't a trained Shadowhunter and had no business being involved with this was? She could show them her skin, which was free of runes. Would they care?

Clary, hopelessly lost, could only think one thought, _I need to find Jace._

Of course, Clary didn't know her way around Idris at all and wouldn't even know where to begin to look for him. He'd said he wouldn't be with the Lightwoods, who were in Alicante warning the Clave of Valentine's army. But Jace had never told them where exactly he planned on looking for Valentine. Clary looked around again and tried to find something, anything that would give her a clue to finding Jace.

He'd be angry, but Clary knew this was all for the best. She was glad to be in Idris, because she knew Jace was here. If Jace was planning to perform a crazy suicide mission, well, Clary would be right there with him. The way she felt for him, this earth shattering love, she wasn't ever going to let it slip away. If she had just stayed at the Institute while Jace went out and got himself killed, she would be betraying her heart.

Clary felt hot tears prick her eyes. _Stop thinking like that,_ she told herself. _Jace is not going to die. You're going to have him in your life for a long time. _

_"Clary!" _she heard Jace shout in shock, but she didn't believe it. This was too good to be true. Sure enough, when she turned around there was Jace in all his glory. The light of the moon cast an angelic glow to him, highlighting his tawny hair and eyes.

How was that possible? Idris appeared to be such a large, vast region. There was no way it was just a coincidence that she just so happened to Portal right to Jace's location. Clary decided not to question a small miracle. She eagerly went to greet Jace.

But Jace looked far from pleased. In fact, he looked frighteningly enraged.


	18. Chapter 17: Always

Fallen Gold

Chapter 17: Always

_"And I'll be there forever and a day. Always." -Bon Jovi_

Clary drew a breath, trying to prepare herself to endure Jace's anger. It hadn't even been her fault! _Magnus _had pushed her into the Portal, completely unaware of Sebastion's intention, but would Jace believe that? Clary didn't have the best track record for doing what she was told. So when she approached Jace, she decided to play the _so incredibly happy to see him that nothing else mattered and they should forget any other (negative) feelings _card.

"Jace!" Clary exclaimed breathlessly. "I found you! How incredible is this? Out of all the areas in the entire country, I Portaled to your location!" she exclaimed innocently.

Jacelooked like he could barely control his anger enough to provide an explanation. "You Portal to the place you're thinking of and since you've never been here before you don't know any locations. Since you Portaled illegally you end up outside of Alicante...which is where I am since I can't be near any other Shadowhunters. You were thinking of me while you were in the Portal, weren't you?"

Clary nodded.

"I'm sure that had something to do with it too."

"Oh, well I guess this worked out in my favor, didn't it?" Clary said, feigning enthusiasm. Inwardly though, she was wincing, waiting for Jace to crack.

"I'm not in the mood for this," Jace said darkly.

"Aren't you at least glad to see me?"

"Happy to see you?" He laughed without mirth. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

Clary dropped the act. "Jace...just let me _explain._ It isn't even my fault!"

"Of course it wasn't!" he shouted, sarcasm lacing his words. "What were you thinking? Coming to Idris! Don't you have an ounce of common sense under that red hair?"

"I was thinking I couldn't just sit around at the Institute! I had to do something!" Clary cried before she could stop herself. What was she doing? She hadn't come here on her own free will! Then she realized she was mad because she had thought more than a few times of coming to Idris anyway, and it hadn't seemed like a dumb idea. "No, wait! That's not what I meant!" she cried in frustration. "It wasn't my choice to come to Idris! It was an accident!"

"But you had enough time to grab a weapon or two before this _accident _happened?" Jace yanked Clary's belt off of her.

_"Jace!" _Clary protested, stunned with Jace's behavior. Had she expected him to be angry? Sure, but she'd figured after a thorough explanation he would accept-even be happy with-her arrival.

"You have weapons," he said, voice shaking with anger. Jace chucked the belt as hard as he could.

"You're acting like such an ass! Would you just stop throwing out accusations for one minute and listen?"

Clary yelped in surprise as Jace lunged at her, grabbing a handful of her shirt and pulling her forward. He gave her a terrible shake as he yelled, "_Why _did you come here? Was it because of Luke and Jocelyn? Was it because I told you not to and you're just that _damn stubborn_?"

"Jace!" Clary gasped. "Jace, calm down," she said, firmly.

Jace, registering her fear at his aggression, immediately let go of her, the rage gone in a flash. His expression didn't soften but the tension in his shoulders was gone. "Are you okay?" he grumbled.

"I'm fine. Just listen. I...Sebastion! He's at the Institute. And he tried to attack me." Clary launched into the story of how Sebastion was working for Valentine all along.

"And Magnus pushed me through the Portal because he didn't know Sebastion was trying to get me to Idris and he was only trying to protect me!"

Jace swore. Clary waited patiently for him to finish.

"But that's not even the strangest part! At one point, Sebastion referred to Valentine as his _father._ You don't think he's my brother, do you?"

"Probably not," Jace muttered. "He's probably really close to Valentine or just, like his adopted son or something. Where's Sebastion now?"

"As far as I know he's still at the Institute," Clary said, and after seeing the look on Jace's face, "But Hodge is with Max now. They're safe."

"Yeah, as long as Magnus manages to kill Sebastion!" Jace snapped. "Let's just say I hope the Institute doesn't get a lot of runaways if he doesn't! Because they won't know there's a Shadowhunter working for Valentine there!"

"I hadn't thought of that," Clary said quietly.

"Forget it. Nothing we can do, so no use worrying." He grabbed her arm and began walking. "I'm taking you to Alicante. The Lightwoods are there. They'll try and get you back home safely. Hopefully the Clave won't find out you're here. They'd find you fascinating."

Clary dug her sneakers into the dirt to stop Jace from pulling her. "Wait, Alicante? But aren't you supposed to be staying away from there?"

"Yeah. You picked a good time to show up, didn't you?" Jace said with a leer.

"Jace, there's no use in taking me to Alicante. It's just going to get you exiled again and then you won't be bale to find Valentine and you won't be able to become a Shadowhunter again!" Clary exclaimed.

"You didn't want me to do this anyway. You and Kristy thought it was a suicide mission, remember?" Jace pointed out.

"I know, but I just hate what has happened to you," Clary said helplessly. "I wish there was an easier way for you to prove you were innocent."

"Look, I was heading toward Alicante anyway, my old home is on the way. I was going to investigate the place to see if I can find any clues to where Valentine is. It's not much, but it's a start. We'll both head down the path to Alicante tomorrow morning and figure it out from there."

"Tomorrow morning? But what are we going to do until then?"

"Sleep," Jace answered grimly.

"I don't have to sleep! We should start immediately or we'll lose precious time!"

"I'm not crossing Idris on the brink of a war with you at night."

"But I trust you and you should trust me! I'm not going to do anything stupid and anyway you can protect me."

"No, definitely not. I can't see from every angle and any Downworlders will sense you're weak."

"I'm _not_ weak."

"In this country, with Shadowhunters training since they were six years old, you are. I won't risk it. Now come on."

Jace led Clary into a small cave where they settled in for the night. Clary was miserable. She was only a hindrance to Jace now and it felt awful.

Jace reached into his backpack and chucked a granola bar at her. It landed at her feet. "Dinner," he muttered.

"I'm so sorry, Jace," Clary whispered. "But you know I didn't want to come here in the first place, right? I was pushed through. There was nothing I could do about it. I'd give anything to be back at the Institute."

"Me too," Jace said. "I was a jerk before, I know. I can't help it. You just mean so much to me, Clary, and I worry about you. I worry about you until it drives me crazy."

"And you don't think I worry about you?" she said with a shaky breath. "You're way more likely to get yourself killed than I am!"

"Let's not talk about it, okay?" Jace said.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about then?"

"Nothing. Just come here," Jace whispered.

Clary went to sit behind him. Jace wrapped his hands around her waist and planted soft, quick kisses on her neck. Clary shivered; his cool lips gave her chills. She turned her head to the side and met his lips with her own.

"It's moments like these that remind of why I'm insane enough to want you, to not want to want someone else," Clary said. Jace chuckled. She could feel the laughter vibrating in his chest and pushing against her back. Clary placed her hands over his. "We're going to be okay, right Jace? We're going to make it through this and be fine."

She waited for Jace to answer, but he did not. Clary shifted so that she could see him. "Jace...?"

The expression on his face was frightening. His eyes were glowing intensely .

"Jace are you-"

Jace shushed her furiously. "Did you hear that?" he whispered.

She listened carefully and could distinctly hear heavy footsteps outside the cave. Jace motioned for her to move as far back as she could. Clary obeyed and backed up to the end of the cave. Jace silently crept to the edge of the cave and glanced out of it. He scurried over to Clary and swore under his breath as he searched his belt for weapons.

_"Werewolves,"_ he spat.

"What are they doing here?"

"I don't know, but I doubt they've come to invite us to a party. Listen I'm going to try and ambush them. You just get out and follow the stone path through the plains. It leads to Alicante," Jace whispered.

"Not without you!"

_"Of course without me!" _Jace cried as loudly as a whisper would allow him, as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"How long will it take you to realize that we're in this together?"

Jace dug through his belt and withdrew a seraph blade. "Just stay here and when it looks safe to, _run_."

Clary opened her mouth to protest, but Jace had already darted out of the cave. She raced to the entrance to the cave to see what was happening.

It was horrible. A pack of werewolves, about twelve of them, were lurking around the cave. Jace had run out with his seraph blade glowing in the blackness of the night. The werewolves had thick coats of black, brown, gray, and silver and hungry, beady eyes. They locked onto Jace and pounced. Jace thrust his blade forward, but was hardly a match for a pack of werewolves. He was quickly brought down and ambushed.

Clary screamed. She ran toward them. "Stop! Stop! Don't hurt him! He was just trying to protect me. I'm not even a real Shadowhunter! You have _no_ reason to hurt him. Please, let him go."

A few of werewolves turned to Clary, staring as if they had never seen anything quite like her before, ears pricked. One of them cocked its head as if to say, _What's in it for us if we do?_

Pinned to the ground beneath them was Jace. His seraph blade was also on the ground, not within reaching distance. "Clary, get away," he choked, breathlessly.

Three werewolves abandoned Jace and began creeping toward her, teeth bared and snarling.

Clary had to think on her toes. Her hand drifted to her belt and the few weapons she had left, but she quickly dismissed that option. If Jace couldn't, what made her think that she could?

"I-I don't want to fight! We're not like the other Shadowhunters. We don't want a war between the Downworlders!" Clary cautiously stepped away from the werewolves, but they kept stepping closer. Like a light bulb going off in her head, she was able to recall a certain piece of information that just might save her skin. "Luke! My friend Luke is a Downworlder! He's a werewolf, actually! Don't you see? We mean no harm from your kind!"

That seemed to do the trick. The werewolves froze, all looking at one and other. Clary was astounded to see, right before her very eyes, one of them transform into a human. He was a tall, husky man with dark curly hair and ripped jeans. "Lucian Graymark?" he asked, with a strange sort of grin.

"Yes, he is my mother's closest friend and the only father I've ever known," Clary said. Jace struggled to his feet and ran over to Clary. She immediately grabbed his hand, feeling a comforting sense of security just to be holding his hand, even while facing a rather large pack of werewolves. She glared at them.

The man clenched his crooked teeth and pulled his lips back. Clary could only assume it was supposed to be a grin. "You're in luck, child. That's why we're here. Lucian was the leader of our pack. I'm Ash Ripley, his second in command, and we're here in search of him."

"I think he's been taken by Valentine."

"The Clave is not using Valentine as a cover up. He really did kill your precious puppies," Jace said coldly. "The Downworlders want us to prove Valentine is alive or else the war continues, and I plan on doing just by killing him and bringing his body to Alicante."

Clary shivered. She knew of this plan already, but didn't like the vision of Jace dragging his dead, bloodied, adoptive father to Alicante.

"That being said, Clary and I have to go."

"We're pretty sure we can conclude that you Nephilim aren't lying," Ash said.

"Fortunately, we don't care which conclusion you reach so you can take all the time you need," Jace said, gently pulling Clary away from the pack.

_"Jace, stop,"_ Clary hissed. She stood her ground and said to Ash, "Why is that?" Clary said .

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I was with Lucian the day he spotted Valentine and your male friend in Central Park."

That seemed to throw Jace off course. "Did he now?"

"Yes, and being the good man he is, Lucian immediately reported his sighting to the Clave and they sent people out to look for Valentine."

"But because they couldn't find him, they had to settle for me."

"Lucian stayed out of this business after you were exiled, said he'd dealt with Valentine enough in the past to know not to get involved now. So we all kept a low profile, but it was no use. A few months later, Lucian disappeared as well. Now we're trying to find out old leader." Ash paused a moment to think. "What if we teamed up with you, Nephilim? Help you kill Valentine and rescue our leader?"

Under normal circumstances, Jace would have immediately refused this offer. In his opinion, Downworlders were more trouble than they were worth, only good for picking fights on a rainy day, but he was short on options. Maybe if he could ambush Valentine with a pack of werewolves on his side he'd actually have a chance of succeeding. Would the Clave be less willing to remove his sentence if he worked with lycanthropes? Possibly, but they'd have to admit the alliance was necessary in order to take down the greater, mutual enemy.

In short, yes, he'd accept the offer, but first ,"We have to bring Clary to Alicante safely, then we can begin to search for Valentine."

"So is that a yes?"

"That's a cautious yes."

Ash grinned, but it was so crooked it offered Clary little comfort. "Excellent."


	19. Chapter 18: War

Fallen Gold

Chapter 18: War

_"This is war and it's on tonight. So get up and fight. Get up and fight. You had all your life to run and hide. So step up. Step up. Let's do this." -Sick Puppies_

Clary wasn't thrilled with the plan Jace had come up with, but she hadn't exactly had a choice in the matter. So when the party finally made it to the outskirts of the beautiful city of Alicante, she reluctantly said goodbye to Jace. "This isn't our last goodbye," she said firmly, as if telling Jace he better make sure this turns out to be true.

"I know," Jace said, sounding more confident than he felt. "I really have to leave now, though, before someone spots me. You be careful. If the Downworlders plan a second attack, Alicante will be their first choice. Try and find a safe place outside of Alicante and, I doubt you'll be able to do this because of the situation we're in with the Downworlders right now, try and hire a warlock to Portal you home. Just get _out_of Idris. Don't go to the Clave, though. They'll be fascinated with you. They'll question you for the rest of your life and if they don't, they'll probably find a way to force you to fight in the war before they allow you to Portal back."

"Okay."

"I'm sure Kristy will find someplace safe anyway. I trust her, you know? She hasn't fought in a while, but she's got that motherly instinct. Although, maybe you should just stay there. There are probably Downworlders scattered all around Idris outside the city..."

"Jace, go! Before you're seen," Clary said.

Jace nodded, looking so nervous he might be sick, and gave Clary a quick final kiss. Clary could've sworn she saw two werewolves glance at each other and then smirk.

Then, a very lonely Clary turned to follow the stone path into Alicante, unable to watch Jace as he led the werewolves into Idris, unfamilar and dangerous to Clary.

* * *

Clary had to admit, Alicante was impressive. After finding Kristy and settling in with her, she was able to catch brief glimpses of the city through the window. She couldn't actually tour the city, because she didn't want her location to be reported to the Clave. They might not recognize her, but she resembled Jocelyn too much to take that risk. Jace was right, it was best if they just didn't know she was here.

Kristy was staying with an old friend from her past, a Shadowhunter by the name of Rebecca Jones, her husband, Timothy, and their twin baby boys. Kristy often spent time playing with the babies. She was good with children and Clary enjoyed watching her play with them. However, she couldn't watch for long because she had to turn away when the pained longing that was evident in Kristy's eyes became too much to bear.

One day Kristy offered to take Clary to the official training arena. Bored, Clary agreed against her better judgement. Kristy seemed to realize how restless and anxious Clary was getting and decided to take the chance. Careful to keep her face hidden in the crowd, she followed Kristy and watched her do some practice battles. She was impressed at how good Kristy was at fighting after so many years as a mundane.

"It feels like I've traveled back in time. I feel like I'm in a dream," Kristy had said after Clary expressed how impressed she was with Kristy's abilities.

"You're going to fight if it comes down to it, aren't you?"

"I am but I wish time would freeze right now. I forgot how much I enjoyed being a Shadowhunter. With all the fighting and the conflicts with the Downworlders, we Nephilim forget how noble our cause is."

"Are we going to leave Alicante? Jace suggested it before but said it might be just as dangerous."

"I'm not sure yet," Kristy had said. "I need some time to think it over..."

But Kristy and Clary didn't have the luxury of deciding what they were going to to do nest. The following day, the Clave had summoned Clary.

"I should've never taken you with me," Kristy said with guilt. "Why didn't you stop me?" she cried, only half serious.

Clary grimaced. "News travels fast, doesn't it?"

* * *

"Look, Shadowhunter, if you're going to act like this we're going to reconsider our alliance," Ash said dangerously.

Jacesmirked but said nothing in response.

"We're no closer to finding Valentine's hideout than we were a week ago!" a young woman exclaimed. They had searched all over Valentine's old manor house hoping to find clues, but found nothing.

"You think I don't know that, Anna?" Ash said, leering at Jace. "You said you grew up with Valentine. How do we know you're not secretly on his side?"

Jace shook his head in a pretentious sort of way. "Really? None of you realize that this hideout is obviously marked with runes so that it's not visible to the naked eye? How did none of you think of that! You have to_ know your enemy!_"

"It took you a _week_ to figure that out?" Anna said.

Jace scoffed. "Of course not. I was searching the manor for clues as to what kind of runes Valentine had decided to use, but found nothing. And anyway, it shouldn't be up to me to figure that out. You all should've thought of that."

"Well, it's up to you now. We don't know how to get past runes that disguise a place. So what's your brilliant plan, Shadowhunter?"

Jace stared at the Morgenstern family ring on his finger. Valentine had passed this ring down to him. It'd be a stretch but...

"A warlock taught me how to use a tracking spell once and I figured out how to do it using runes. This ring belonged to Valentine. I can use it to find him."

"You know you're spending an awful amount of time with Downworlders for a Shadowhunter who is at war with them," Anna said.

"We're not _officially _at war yet. There's only been one attack." Jace looked her in the eyes. "Look, I'm not exactly about to invite you guys to go on a camping trip with me, but we can prevent the loss of a lot of innocent lives if we work together." _And I may be able go back to the way things were._

Anna nodded reluctantly.

"Let's do it, then," Jace said. He slid the ring off his finger and clenched it his hand so tightly his knuckles turned white and started to ache. With his left hand he traced a rune on the back of his hand with a stele. The familiar sting resonating as he watched the fade into his skin like ink dissolving. The stele he'd used was technically stolen from Kristy.

Now that he thought about it, he'd never returned that necklace he had just been looking at the other day when he was in her room. He'd shoved it into the pocket of his pocket and had forgotten to return it. Jace placed his hand into his pocket. He felt the small blade against his fingertips. _I really have to return that, _Jace thought, but right now there were more important matters at hand.

He closed his eyes and saw it. A large, beautiful mansion. Glass windows with gold frames laced with runes were on either side of the large bronze colored door. Somehow, Jace knew it had runes on it to make it invisible just by using this Tracking rune. So his theory was right after all. He also somehow knew exactly where it was just by seeing it.

Jace opened his eyes to find a group of werewolves staring at him anxiously. "Well, Shadowhunter?" one of them said.

Jace pointed. "We start by heading down that valley and around the forest."

Ash nodded. "No time to waste, then. Let's go before Valentine finds out we're tracking him."

* * *

"If you want information about my parents, I can't give you anything you don't already know. More than anything, I want my Mother back, and if I knew something I'd tell you."

Clary decided there was no use beating around the bush that evening. She was supposed to have been to the Clave first thing in the morning, but Kristy, honoring Jace's request, did everything in her power to get Clary out of this meeting and back to New York where it was safe. It was futile, though. the Clave was not going to give in on this matter. When Inquisitor Ricky Williams had sat her down to discuss things she set him straight immediately.

"Actually, we think you'll be of use to us anyway," the Inquisitor said thoughtfully. "What do you know about a Shadowhunter named Jonathon Herondale?"

Clary swallowed. "Nothing."

The Inquisitor's eyes were piercing. "Nothing? How unfortunate. Though, if I remember correctly, a recent report I received suggests you've been spending a lot of time at the Manhattan Institute, run by Maryse and Robert Lightwood who were the boy's adoptive parents. So, naturally, I would assume you had at least heard of him. I think it's a safe assumption, don't you?"

Clary was so nervous speaking to the Inquisitor. Partly because he was part of the decision to exile Jace, partly because he was an intimidating man in a powerful position. Clary forced herself to sit still, as she was unable to stop fidgeting in her seat.

"Would you like to try answering that question again?"

"I don't know _anything _about Jace!" blurted Clary.

"_Jace. _Who's Jace? I was asking you about Jonathon Herondale."

* * *

"We should stop now," Ash said firmly. The sun had long ago set and darkness surrounded them in every direction.

The light of Jace's witchlight was strong, though, and he was far from concerned. "What? No!"

"Just for the night, little Shadowhunter," Anna said.

Jace scowled when she said the word little and said, "Why?"

"Because we're all going to need to be in the best shape possible if we're going to take on Valentine," Ash said.

"You're _werewolves,_" Jace cried in exasperation. "Tell me you all can go at least one night without sleep."

"We're not talking about us as much as we're talking about you."

"Me?" Jace said, baffled. "I can handle one lousy night without sleep. Trust me."

"It really would be in our best interests if we all sat down, had something to eat, and relaxed for at least an hour. You're going to need your strength if you want to face Valentine."

Jace couldn't argue with that logic. "Maybe for just an hour," he mumbled.

_Busted._ "Okay. Fine. I know him, but, once again, I can't tell you anything you don't already know."

The Inquisitor rose from his seat and glowered down at Clary. "You know you just _lied _to a member of the Clave. I don't think you realize the seriousness of such a crime."

"I'm sorry! I don't even live here. I-"

"Precisely! Which means you must leave this meeting after I am finished with you."

"Meeting? It feels a lot more like an interrogation!" Clary snapped, getting both angry and brave enough to speak to an authority figure like this from Jace.

"I doesn't matter how you _feel_about this!" roared the Inquisitor. He slammed both hands on the the desk in front of him, drew in a breath, and said, "Let's just cut to the chase. Do you or do you not know if that boy is in Idris?"

"I do not," replied Clary, thinly, evenly.

_"Liar."_

"I'm not lying!" Clary cried. "He keeps to himself, Jace does."

"Oh, _does_he now?" the Inquisitor said. Then, he spoke almost as if he was thinking aloud, not even looking at Clary. "Nasty, disrespectful little brat. I'd like to-"

"I HOPE HE'S IN IDRIS BREAKING YOUR STUPID RULES BECAUSE HIS EXILE WAS BULL!" Clary yelled, standing up now herself.

Had Jace not been exiled, he would've surely joined the cause and fought in this war, but he would never have gone after Valentine on his own. This was simply a _desperate_attempt to win back the Clave's favor. If this man and the rest of the Clave hadn't decided to break Jace's heart so suddenly and without any sympathy, he wouldn't be risking his life right now to repair it again.

This anger, this rage, all because of Jace. Before she knew Jace, Clary had been in what was close to an ignorant bliss. Before knowing the truth, though, and knowing Jace, she'd never known what it was like to truly love someone in the way she loved him now. Meeting him was the best and worst thing to have ever happened to Clary.

_"What did you just-?"_

"Calm down, Richard."

Clary and the Inquisitor had been staring each other down, but both looked towards the door at this point. Clary turned to see Kristy, leaning against the doorway with with one boot against the wall, her arms crossed, and her mouth twisted into a sort of amused smirk. She looked pretty, Clary thought, with her blond hair tied back into a high ponytail and clad in her black leather.

As for the Inquisitor, he looked a bit lost, his expression going from rage to a sort of calm hardness and the redness leaving his face. "Kriszelda," he whispered.

"How are the kids?" Kristy asked, sounding as if he'd stolen something from her. Clary was confused. Why did she feel angry with him for having children?

The Inquisitor, looking guilty, ran a conscious hand through his hair. "They're fine, all fine."

"And the wife?" Kristy asked, sounding just as angry to Clary's utter confusion.

"Everyone is good, Kristy. Thank you for asking."

Then, it clicked and Clary was able to put two and two together. Inquisitor Ricky Williams...Ricky, which is a nickname for...

"Richard! _This_ is Richard? Your former husband who left you when you couldn't have children?"

Kristy clapped her hands together and smiled grimly. "Bravo, Clary."

* * *

Jace decided that he wasn't going to be a rebel, just this once, if it meant endangering his chances of the Clave withdrawing his exile. He leaned against the trunk of a tree for support and screwed his eyes shut. Finally able to relax, his mind was bombarded with the reminder that he was hungry, dehydrated, and very, very lonely. He hugged his knees to his chest, holding onto the idea that if he made himself as small as possible. He wished Alec, Clary, or even Maryse was here with him now.

"What are you thinking about?" one of the younger pack members, an attractive female with short brown hair, asked as she sat next to him.

Jace stared at her blankly. "How I'm going to lose you guys."

"That'd be very foolish. We're on your side."

"Apparently no one taught you the word sarcasm."

"I'm worried about Lucian."

"Why?"

Now it was her turn to stare. "Because he's our pack leader."

"You'll get a new one."

"That's not funny."

"_That_ wasn't sarcasm. That was just the truth."

"He's like a father to me."

Jace swallowed and looked away from her, up at the sky and the pale moon. "He's a father to someone I know too."

"My parents were never really there for me and he always was. I _have_to help him." Her eyes glittered with determination and Jace then developed a bit of respect for her. "Was he like a father to you too?"

"No, I was talking about a friend of mine."

"Why do you want to save him then?"

"I just told you that my friend cares for him. So now your vocab skills are poor _and _your unobservant."

She glared at him. "I was just trying to get to know you, for the pack's sake and for your own. You're the one who said we all need to pull together now."

Jace threw his hands up, aggravated. "What do you need to know?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that you were exiled. You must have done something horrible to earn yourself that punishment."

"...I did, but it's none of your business. We're a team. That doesn't mean you need to know my life's story and vice versa."

"You're hoping taking down Valentine will earn yourself acceptance from the Clave again."

"Ah, _there _are your observational skills."

"You're sort of a celebrity in Idris now, you know. Amoung the Shadowhunters, at least."

"Yay." Jace zipped up his jacket. It was getting chilly now. "I want to try to get some sleep."

She nodded. "Okay. My name is Liz, by the way. Goodnight, Jace Herondale."

Jace didn't say anything so she left after that. He leaned back again, shut his eyes, and attempted to fall asleep again. He had too much on his mind, though. So he settled for just sitting and relaxing his body while his mind continued to run wild.

* * *

Clary didn't know much about Kristy's past, only the brief bits and pieces of it Jace had told him. He'd told her Kristy had been happily married to a man named Richard but, because he wanted children so badly and Kristy couldn't have one, he'd left her and returned to Idris. That was about all she knew.

Clary stared at the Inquisitor in awe. This man left Kristy because, more than anything, he want to have children and Kristy couldn't give him that. That stern, strict face didn't exactly scream "family man" or "loving father".

He stared at her, appearing to reflect her surprise. "How much have you told her, Kristy?" he asked nervously.

"What didn't you want her to know?"

"It's just...personal-"

"It's not like you cheated on me or anything."

"No! Of course not, but...what are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm helping the cause. A group of Shadowhunters want to track down Valentine and I'm with them. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to take Clary."

The vein in the Inquisitor's forehead seemed to have reappeared. "No, this girl is staying with me until I'm finished getting all I need to know from her."

"She doesn't know anything, Richard! She just came in hopes of finding her mother again. She's Jocelyn's daughter, you know."

He scoffed. "Of course I know that!"

Kristy motioned for Clary to follow her. "Come on, Girl, we're leaving."

Clary scurried after Kristy.

"Pleasant, isn't he?" Kristy said.

"_He_ left you because he loved _children?_" Clary said, incredulous.

Kristy's eyes were dark and sad. "I can't believe it. Becky was right, Clary. Oh, God..."

"Right about what?"

"Him! Richard. She'd told me that he was different after being named the Clave's Inquisitor. Apparently, the stress his family and his responsibility were giving him was too much. After dealing with so many law breakers in Idris and so many complaints citizens make to the Clave he just, I don't know, cracked I guess. I know we're not together anymore, but I still care about him. It hurts to see him like that..."

For a moment, Clary was afraid that Kristy might start crying. She wasn't good at comforting people; not nearly as horrible at it as Jace, but bad nonetheless. When she saw with relief that Kristy was not crying, she said, "I had no idea he was _your _Richard, since he goes by Ricky. I just never thought about what Ricky was short for...Hey, what did he call you before?"

"My name. Kriszelda."

"I never knew your full name was Kriszelda!"

Kristy smiled. "What did you think Kristy was short for?"

_"Kristina? Kristine?"_

"Well, it's not."

"Kriszelda..." Clary said, testing the name on her tongue. "That's a pretty name."

Kristy's smile slowly transformed into a frown. Clary knew why. She could hear it from outside. The pounding of footsteps outside, large and aggressive. Both of them ran over to the nearest window and glanced outside and Clary's worst fear was confirmed.

Kristy's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh..._Oh my, God._ We're out of time. We're too late."

A large, angry army of Downworlders were heading straight towards the Gard.


	20. Chapter 19: Fight to the Death

Fallen Gold

Chapter 19: Fight to the Death

_"If we don't make it alive. Well, it's a hell of a good day to die. All our light that shines strong only lasts for so long. And it's ashes to ashes again. Should we even try to pretend? All our light that shines strong only lasts for so long." -The Offspring_

"Clary," Kristy said shakily as she backed away from the window. "Clary, _stay _with me. We have to get out of here."

"They're going to try and override the Clave, aren't they?" Clary said fearfully.

"Let's _go!_" Kristy made a dash for the stairs and the two of them raced down; Kristy taking two steps at a time and Clary doing her best to keep up.

They exited the Gard and Clary was shocked to see that the Downworlders were raiding the village. A few houses were already set on fire and Shadowhunters were scrambling for weapons.

"Follow me!" Kristy shouted over all the noise and Clary glued her eyes to her. Kristy pulled out a seraph blade, uttered its name, and a beam of light shout out through the night. Clary sprinted to keep up with her. This was difficult as her legs were significantly shorter.

Clary saw a hungry looking vampire in the distance. She did her best to stay out of its path, but was tackled backwards and fell to the ground, lifting her head just enough to avoid smacking it against the cobblestone path. The vampire unleashed his fangs and a sinister laugh. Clary screamed and tried to wiggle her way out from under him. She saw Kristy rushing back to her rescue and a sense of relief rushed through her. She wanted to scream for Kristy to hurry up already as the vampire pressed his cold lips against her neck.

Kristy reached the vampire, pulled her blade back, and then swung it forward. But another vampire came as if from nowhere. "Rusty, _watch_ _yourself!" _The vampire shouldered Kristy out of the way and she fell to the ground.

Though, the vampire, Rusty, heard this and got off of Clary to observe the scene behind him. Clary scrambled to her feet and ran over to Kristy. She was holding the side of her head.

"Are you alright?" Clary asked nervously.

"I will be," Kristy said shakily.

Clary held out her hand to help her to her feet. Kristy removed her hand from her head, Clary could see a brilliant scarlet spot of blood against her light blond locks. Kristy stumbled dizzily and then set her head straight again. She grabbed a handful of Clary's shirt and gently pushed her behind her back, pointing her seraph blade forward.

Rusty and the other vampire slowly walked toward them. Now Clary could see the other one clearly. She was a slender female, with that quality vampires all seem to possess, the one where Clary finds them especially attractive in a way she could never really explain. She was Asian, with long, pin-straight jet black hair and red highlights. She had red bangs cut across her forehead.

"Shadowhunters," she hissed dangerously.

"Why are you doing this?" Clary said in disgust.

"Don't play dumb! That raid on the village this morning?"

"What?" Clary said.

"You really are stupid then, aren't you? Shadowhunters raided a village this morning. A small, peaceful village dedicated to Downworlders who just want out of Nephilim affairs."

"Valentine," Kristy whispered. She grabbed Clary again. "Run," she ordered and Clary didn't even consider disobeying. The vampires chased them, but Kristy and Clary got lost in the crowd. Clary followed Kristy to the Jones's place.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Timothy waved them over. On either side of him stood horses. Clary could only assume they were specially trained horses because neither looked frightened.

"Where's Rebecca?" Kristy asked, raising her voice over the cries of the crowd.

"She took off earlier with the kids. We have a friend who lives outside the city. We're going to take shelter there."

Timothy quickly slid onto the horse to his left. Kristy gently grabbed Clary's arm. "You go," she shouted. "Follow Tim. He'll get you to safety, I promise. There's something I have to do."

Clary's eyes widened. "What's that?"

"Find Jace."

"Take a horse then. I'll ride with him." Clary turned before hopping onto the horse. "Kristy, be careful okay?"

Kristy embraced Clary and then she got onto the horse behind Tim and the two of them rode off. Kristy ran into the house. Most of their belongings were still there. Rebecca had left most of her childrens' things behind, but Kristy remembered her saying they had an emergency supply stash hidden, just in case something like this happened.

Kristy felt her stomach tighten. She didn't have a family to help evacuate. She didn't have children to protect...

She shook her head swiftly. Now certainly wasn't the time to throw herself a pity parade. She had to find Jace and warn him and tell him he was an idiot. She ran upstairs to the guest bedroom where her and Clary had settled in and pulled her suitcase out from under the bed. Inside was one of Jace's shirts. She knew there was a possibility it'd come down to this. Kristy quickly drew a Tracking rune.

She could still see the day Valentine had taught it to her. She'd been young and pathetically in love. But this was one of the few things she could remember, because Kristy could recall doing her best to memorize the proper method and impress him.

The door swung open. Kristy curled her hands around the hilt of her seraph blade and warily turned around.

"Richard?" she gasped.

The Inquisitor smirked. "They told me you were staying here."

"What! Who?"

He shrugged. He had the same cool expressions that made it seem like nothing ever got to him, but Kristy had seen him losing his temper with Clary earlier. This position was getting to him. "The Clave. They keep track of all the latest gossip."

Kristy laughed coldly. "Gossip? You're running a country, Richard!"

"And I'm not doing a very good job, am I?"

"I don't have time to be sympathetic for you. I'm sorry but I just don't. I haven't been in Idris for years so I wouldn't know anyway."

"You're here now, aren't you?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you should be _here!_ Shouldn't you be with the Clave? Trying to fix this mess?"

"I'm going to resign from my position."

That startled Kristy. "You're not serious?"

"I'm serious as a stroke."

"You can't resign now! That's despicable-"

"I'm not going to resign now, relax. I know they'd never be able to find someone to take my place during this war, but once the war is over and if we manage to survive it, I'm out."

"But why?" she said with disbelief. Looking at him, even years later, still sent chills down her spine. He was beautiful, even though his dark brown hair had a sort of salt and pepper look to it now, even with the lines that hardened his face, lines that Kristy somehow knew weren't from age but from stress.

"Because I can't take it anymore, Kristy. You know me. I never wanted to be in a position of power anyway. I never cared about power. I only ever wanted to be happy, but I lost my way after I left you."

"You're playing martyr-"

"No, I'm not. Just listen. I thought it was the right decision, leaving you to start a family. I got married and did what I thought would make me happy, but I was wrong. My wife, she doesn't make me happy. I can't be happy-"

"I'll finish that one for you," Kristy snapped, holding up a hand to cut him off. "Unless I'm in your life."

"I joined the Clave after I had children because I needed something to fill up the hole in my life, but it only made things worse."

Kristy shook her head in disgust. "I have to go, Richard."

"I do too. The Clave needs me. But once this is all over, let's run away together."

Kristy felt the urge to cry. "You're insane."

"Come on, Kriszelda." Richard stepped closer to her so that their faces were inches away from each other. Close enough to kiss...

"Richard," she breathed, fighting with both temptation and instinct.

Richard stroked a strand of her hair. Kristy appeared to have woken up from a daze. She pushed him away.

"You're too late, Richard! _Damn it! _What's wrong with you? You're married, you have kids, you have _responsibilities!"_

"And I intend to fulfill those responsibilities, but I told you I'm leaving once this is all over. I want you, Kristy. I love you."

Kristy thought she'd collapse. For so many years she only saw Richard in her dreams. Only in her dreams did he seek her out and confront her. Only in her dreams did he confess that he never truly loved his second wife. Only in her dreams did she hear Richard say those words to her again.

The only difference was, in her dreams she reciprocated her feelings.

"You're too late," she whispered, tears pricking her eyes.

"Why am I too late? Is there someone else?"

"I have a boyfriend in New York."

"And he knows you're here?"

"Well...not exactly."

"Oh, so what did you say?"

Kristy's mind was jumbled and she was unable to come up with a good lie. So she told the truth. "I broke up with him before I left."

"Then why am I too late? We could have children."

Kristy lost her temper then. She screamed, "Because you're _not _the man I love anymore! Because I _won't_let you leave your children without a father and because the innocent boy you exiled from Idris is fraternizing with Downworlders as we speak and I have to make sure he isn't hurt!"

She waited for Richard to respond, but he was at a loss for words. Finally, a few tears managed to escape from Kristy's eyes. "Goodbye, Richard," she whispered.

* * *

The trees stood high, making Jace's surroundings even darker. He wanted to move on, just find Valentine's place and attack, but now the werewolves had gone searching for food. At least, some of them have. The rest of the pack, including Liz, were just outside the forest. Jace was supposed to be sitting with the pack, but he wanted to be alone. Jace settled himself under a tree and rubbed his hands together, as they were cold.

_"Jace." _Somewhere, someone was whispering his name. Jace couldn't tell who it was, the voice was too far away, but he didn't trust this person. Everyone in Idris knew him as a traitor and thief, according to Liz. Jace looked around with uncertainty. He took out his witchlight stone, covering it with his hand so that the light was dim, and quietly rose to his feet.

_"Jace. Where are you, Jace?"_

Jace fumbled through his belt until he found a dagger. The light of a seraph blade would surely give his position away. Footsteps sounded behind him, leaves crunching under boots. Jace whirled around and held his dagger out.

"Watch it!" Jace yelled as the other person said, "Thank God I found you!"

Jace lowered his dagger shakily and saw that it was Kristy. She looked rather flustered, with strands of blond hair falling out of a loose ponytail and into her face. "If Wes Craven were here he'd have struck gold," Kristy said.

"What are_ you _doing here?" Jace said with a glare. "What about Clary? How could you leave her alone!"

"Clary's fine. She's staying with friends of my friends. Listen, Jace, Alicante was attacked a few hours ago. It's chaos everywhere. We're really at war now with the Downworlders! I came to find you, to make sure you were safe. Clary had told me you've formed an alliance with werewolves."

"I have."

Kristy raised her eyebrows, waiting for Jace to continue speaking. "Yeah, okay, I'm just going to say it. _Werewolves, _Jace? Are you crazy?"

"They know Valentine's alive. Clary's friend look was the leader of their pack and Valentine is currently holding him captive. If he's not, well, dead yet they're determined to rescue him and have him return to his position as pack leader. So I decided to travel with them. We're all going to take down Valentine together."

"Do you trust them?"

"I've allied with them, haven't I?"

"Yes, you have, but do you _trust_ them?"

"Sort of...not completely. Well, most of them I guess. It doesn't matter though. It's in their best interest to keep me alive since I know Valentine better than almost anyone, except maybe Jocelyn but she's currently useless. And even if they do decide to brutally murder me after I take down Valentine...if I take down Valentine, then I will be ready for it and you know I can handle a bunch of dogs."

"You're right. You know what you're doing," Kristy said, and then, "Please, Jace. Let me go with you." When Jace opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off with, "Not because I want to protect you or anything like that. I just want to help Nephilim. I neglected my duties as a Shadowhunter for so many years all because I wanted to raise a family and I don't even have that. I just want to feel worth something again. I've felt so useless for so many years."

Jace just shrugged. "I'm not stopping you. You want to join, talk to the giant furry pack leader. He's the one that'll give you trouble about it, not me."

Kristy smiled. "Okay. Where is he? In fact, where are all of them?"

"Just follow me. Ash, their new leader, should be back by now."

"Oh, by the way, Jace. Inquisitor Ricky is Richard, my husband who left me because we couldn't have a baby."

Jace's jaw dropped. _"What?"_

* * *

Ash was pretty much indifferent to the fact that Kristy was a Shadowhunter ("An ally is an ally, right?"), but some of the other members were not particularly pleased with fighting alongside yet another one. Of course, Ash had the final word and they continued to follow Jace.

The following evening, they'd arrived at the mansion; the party hiding behind a scattering of trees and bushes. Under the glow of the moon and the shine of the stars, it was even more beautiful to Jace. He inhaled shakily.

Kristy said, "Now what? I don't see any guards around but..."

Jace drew runes on himself to help him see better, but still saw nothing. "Let's ambush," he whispered.

"Ambush?"

"We can sit around waiting here, hoping we'll find some sort of hidden trap or we can just go."

"We can't just go! If there's a hidden trap somewhere then we're screwed. What if there are mines planted in the ground or something?" Kristy said. "Why don't we go around to the back and see if-"

"The entire place is guarded, heavily guarded," Jace said, grimly but with confidence. "It's Valentine."

"Both of you, enough," Ash growled quietly. "Anna, you know what to do."

Anna nodded and transformed into a werewolf. Jace turned to see five others transform. Liz, he noticed, was still in human form.

"What are they doing?" Kristy said, already fearing the worst.

"They're going ahead of us, to test things out."

_"No,_ that's crazy! They-" Kristy cried, but Ash cut her off.

"It is their duty to the pack," he said firmly.

"Don't die," Jace muttered.

Anna exhaled in what seemed like laughter and leaded the others, leaping out from behind the bushes and in front of the mansion. The five werewolves pounded towards the entrance when Jace looked up at the trees and saw about a dozen Shadowhunters had been hiding in them. That's when Jace saw it, a blur of arrows flying towards the ground from all over. They shot down on the werewolves like deadly rainfall.

Ash jumped out from behind the pushes. He nodded his head for the pack to follow.

"If their in the trees, they're everywhere! Let's go!" Liz cried, staring directly at Jace. She then transformed and followed Ash.

Jace scribbled a defensive rune onto Kristy, and she drew him. They both took out seraph blades, uttered their names, and followed the pack.

It was chaos. Werewolves were attempt to scratch their ways up the trunks of trees and Jace saw with dismay that two of them had already been shot down. Jace knew what he had to do. He ran to a tree that looked like it had a reasonable number of foot holes, put his blade into his weapons belt, and began to climb the tree. He slid down the trunk at one point, his knees screaming in protest, but managed to regain his footing.

When he was at the top he settled himself on a limb with a leafy branch. He peered out between the leaves to find his first target. A broad-shouldered blond man was shooting arrows down onto the victims. Jace carefully moved in to get a closer look. Years of demon hunting trained him to do this quietly. He grabbed a dagger from his belt; a seraph blade was too heavy to throw.

Jace held the dagger in his left hand and moved branches aside with his right. He suppressed a groan. The Shadowhunter was still too far to get a good shot. Jace moved closer again. He pushed a branch aside...

And it snapped and fell to the ground. Had they been on the ground, the Shadowhunter would not have heard this among all the battle cries below, but they were so high up now he heard Jace.

"You hear that?" the Shadowhunter called to someone to his left, someone Jace couldn't see from his position.

Jace, breathing heavily now, scurried back behind a thicker set of branches. The Shadowhunter looked to Jace, who was afraid he might be able to spot him through the branches. He hoped his black clothing would hide him better in the darkness. The Shadowhunter gave up and positioned his bow again.

"Careful, careful," he muttered to himself. Then he fired, and said, "Got you! Down, doggy!"

For some reason, this angered Jace. He crept closer again, targeted his enemy, and, before again running the risk of being seen, let his dagger fly. The dagger soared directly at the other tree, and landed a few inches below the Shadowhunter. Jace pulled out another dagger, refusing to retreat. He took aim again.

"_Hey!_ Who's this?" barked the blond man.

Jace thrust the second dagger forward and, to his shock, the man caught it. His grin was toothy. "Cute trick."

Jace anticipated it, even turned to take off, but could not escape the arrow piercing his shoulder. He fell over and attempted to pull it out, but he didn't have time to. The Shadowhunter had leaped from his tree to Jace's and pinned him down. Jace grunted in pain, but refused to scream.

"So, you're that _type _of Shadowhunter, aren't you? I'll tell you, though, you're a disgrace to the Nephilim race. Running around with _Downworlders?_ I'm going to clean our race up a bit just by killing you. That's right, I wanna see your face when you die," he said with a twisted laugh, and pulled one of his arrows out from the quiver on his back. He rammed the arrow down, but Jace managed to grab it.

The blow was cut off, the deadly point of the arrow just inches from Jace's face. Sweat bursts from his pores as panic coursed through him. He kicked the man in the gut and rose to his feet, his right shoulder burning, _screaming_, for him to remove that arrow. He could feel warm blood trickling down his arm. But Jace didn't have time to stop, as the man had recovered quickly. He pushed Jace hard and he fell onto his back. He was a safe distance away from him now so that Jace could grapple with removing the arrow.

He pulled and pulled, sweat pouring into his eyes now. He could feel the arrow loosening now, but it still wasn't fully out. Jace looked up to see where the man was. Through his blurry vision, he could see that the man was sitting near the edge of the branch Jace was now standing on, but not moving. _He's either recovering from my kick by catching his breath or reloading his bow, _Jace thought, knowing he had a few more seconds left.

But Jace looked up again after those seconds passed, and realized with absolute horror that the Shadowhunter had not been catching his breath or reloading, but in fact_ cutting _the branch Jace was standing on with a knife.

Jace swore as the branch snapped and for a horrifying moment felt his body preparing for the fall, but there was a split second where the branch was still connected to the tree and Jace used that stable ground to get the strength to jump. He flew forward and grabbed the edge of the branch in front of him, feet dangling haphazardly. He tried to pull himself up, but his right arm was useless now it hurt so bad.

The man took a moment to just watch Jace struggle with the pain and the will to survive, then smashed his foot onto Jace's hand. Jace bit on his lip until it bled, holding back his cry. Then the man bent down and twisted the arrow further into Jace's shoulder. This time, the boy couldn't surpress a pain filled scream.

He chuckled with pleasure as Jace discreetly reached into his weapons belt. "You're a survivor, aren't you? Well, that's about to end."

Jace withdrew a blade and jammed it into the man's ankle. It was his turn to scream in agony. Jace took this opportunity to ignore his shoulder's searing pain and, with gritted teeth, pull himself back onto the tree. The man bent down to give Jace the final push once he'd recovered, but it was too late.

Instead, Jace gave the final push. He shoved the man hard, who lost his footing and fell, but not before grabbing Jace's jacket collar. The boy was yanked forward and went down with him.

Jace was immediately reminded of that he'd had after he'd turned Valentine down. The way he was falling, as if in slow motion, sure did feel like a dream. He was falling from the sky with broken wings, an arrow piercing him, trees surrounding him with a building underneath. Jace grabbed a tree branch, his hands and feet scraping the bark desperately, but they slid. It was okay though, because Jace knew he'd broken the fall. Landing on the man was another plus. Jace rolled off the muscular man and glanced at him.

Dead.

Jace knew the fall would kill him. He crawled away from him. No matter how many Shadowhunters he'd seen die in battle, Jace could never stand the sight of a dead body. It was just another thing Valentine saw as a weakness, because he'd grown indifferent to the gruesome sight. Jace moaned in pain and pulled on the arrow again, but it hurt more when he pulled. That jerk had really pushed it in deep now. He collapsed onto the grass and screwed his eyes shut.

"Jace!"

Jace's eyes flew open and he saw Liz running towards him. Looking at her again, he thought she was a bit younger than him, no older than fifteen. "Jace, are you okay?" she said, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear.

Jace inhaled through clenched teeth. "There's an arrow rammed into my shoulder! Does that answer your question?"

"Hold still," she said, eyeing the arrow. She grabbed Jace's arm and pulled. The arrow was coming out slowly. She pulled again and again until it came out. Jace's wound was huge, blood sticking on his shoulder and all the way down his arm.

He quickly pulled out a stele, drew himself a Healing rune, and sighed with relief as the burning pain slowly went away. He rested his head on the ground again, and closed his eyes until the pain subsided. With no time to waste, he quickly opened his eyes again.

"I have to get into the mansion," he said with determination.

"Let me help you!"

"No, you've done enough! Just help your pack!" Jace cried and took off without even looking behind him.

He could see the mansion straight ahead-past the battlefield that had now formed. Jace removed a seraph blade, said its name, and began sprinted across the field.

He saw a female with a hungry gleam in her eyes run straight at Jace, screaming and with her sword thrust forward. Jace lifted his own blade, blocking the hit. But the woman punched Jace in the face and the blade slid from his hand. Jace swore. She struck again, and he ducked again. Jace swiftly removed his spare seraph blade, screamed its name, and plunged it straight into her chest. Her eyes went wide with the initial shock and then slowly the light in them died and blood stained her chest and she fell. Jace picked his blades up again, wiping the blood in his leather.

He sprinted forward again. _Almost there, _he thought desperately, as he was getting closer to the mansion. Then he saw it. Liz. She was caught in the grip of a Shadowhunter, his hand around her throat. She screamed in terror. Jace didn't want to lose sight of his mission but knew he owed the werewolves who had helped him get here, Ash and Liz especially. So he charged at the Shadowhunter. He saw Jace coming at him, grabbed a blade from his belt, slit Liz's throat, and then raced off.

_"No!" _Jace screamed, running harder now. He bent down over Liz, but he was much too late. He murmured, "_Ave atque vale, _Liz." Liz what? He'd never even known her last name, and now she was dead. Probably no older than fifteen, and dead. Jace shuddered and stood. Kristy was standing behind him. "What are you-" he began, but Kristy was looking past Jace and at Liz, her eyes wide with shock.

She bent down to examine her, and nearly fainted at the line of red drawn across her neck. "I-I was supposed to be watching her, but I lost sight of her."

"It's not your fault," Jace said honestly. "It's mine. She wanted to follow me, but I wouldn't let her. I have to go," Jace said.

"I'm coming with you."

Though sick of hearing this from people, the last thing Jace wanted was more guilty blood on his hands. "Suit yourself," he said. They both arrived at the mansion and Kristy wrenched the door open. Jace ran through first, blade thrust out in front of him. A few werewolves ran inside after him.

Jace got only a brief glance of the mansion before the ambush. The floor and ceiling were made up of gold tiles and there was a large stair case made of polished wood with a red carpet in the center, the landing at the top branched off into two more sets of stairs on either side. Large, oval shaped windows were on the walls, an even distance apart.

Other than that, Jace didn't observe much else. Kristy, Jace, and the few werewolves that had followed him inside were immediately ambushed. Jace saw two werewolves were stabbed to death in an instant. He tried to fight, but several Shadowhunters struck him at once, and it wasn't log before he collapsed and darkness met him.

* * *

When Jace awakened, his hands and feet were shackled. His mouth was dry and his muscles were weak. When he observed his surroundings, he saw that he was in, not a prison cell, but a bedroom. In fact he was sitting on the overstuffed bed, his hands chained to the bedpost.

Then, Valentine entered. He looked as intimidating as ever, armed and confident. His hair white as snow, and his expression cold as ice. Jace shrunk back and shuffled backwards until his back was up against the headboard. Though he'd come here to kill Valentine, he had the instinctual ugre to bolt. Of course, he didn't have to force himself to stay, because Valentine was already doing that for him.

"Hello, Jonathon."

Jace's lips trembled, but he managed to say, "My name is Jace."

A warlock wearing red robes entered. It was clear from his expression that he was terrified of Valentine, and was frightened into obedience. At this moment, Jace was so frightened himself he almost didn't blame him. Almost.

"Come to kill me?" Valentine said.

"Yes," he answered immediately.

"How's that working for you?"

"Not well."

"I didn't think so. Just because my son couldn't kill you, doesn't mean I can't either. That's not the point though. You thought you could kill Jonathon? I don't know what made you think that, but okay. That's fine, respectable even, but I have to know. How,_ how _did you ever think that for even a minute you could kill me?" Valentine was furious, his expression contorted with rage. "Besides the fact that I've got an entire army backing me up, besides the fact that I am one of the most powerful Shadowhunters in the world, besides the fact that you and I both know you're not mentally strong enough...I _raised_ you. I know all your pretty little tricks, all your moves, your strengths, your myriad of weaknesses. So what was going through your head when you decided you were going to try to kill me?"

Jace swallowed. "I thought I could do it," he said, and after saying that, he only then realized he'd given up. It was over, he thought, with a sharp pain worse than the arrow punctoring his shoulder. He thought about how he was never going to return to the Clave as a hero. Not that that mattered to him in the least. No, what mattered, what was really hurting him, was that he was never going to be able to be a Shadowhunter ever again. Even if he did miraculously come out of this alive, he'd still be alone in the world.

"Just to show you what a fool you are, I'm going to give you just a taste of my power. What I can do to you by simply snapping my fingers. I'm not going to take a step towards you at all. I'm not going to withdraw a weapon. I'm not even going to hit you. All I am going to do is snap my fingers," Valentine said.

Jace bit his lip until it bled. The blood in his body rushed through him rapidly.

Valentine looked to the warlock, and snapped his fingers. An icy chilld ran through Jace. The warlock raised his hand, and for a split second Jace saw in his bright green eyes just how sorry he was, but Jace wished this Downworlder would drop dead. A hot, flashing blue beam shot from his hand and engulfed Jace. It was like a thousand suns burning his entire body.

Jace screamed, curling into a fetal position. He twisted in unnatural positions, writhing in agony. The burning was unbearable, and he wished he could escape his own body. The pain was white and hot, like the pain he felt when his runes were stripped. The burning, though, was a thousand times worse, and it wouldn't _end._ A single, frightened thought rang in his ears.

_I'm going to die. _


	21. Chapter 20: Give Up the Fight

Fallen Gold

Chapter 20: Give Up the Fight

_"When it's time to live and let die and you can't get another try. Something inside this heart has died. You're in ruins." -Green Day_

Jace wasn't sure how long it'd lasted, but when the warlock finally lowered his hand, he collapsed. His muscles were no longer useful, his limbs felt like weights. He looked to the warlock, and was disgusted to see the guilt in his features.

"You see?" Valentine said calmly, in the way a teacher would to a student after explaining the lesson. "Do you see what I can do? What powers I have. You can't beat me. You can't win. That was merely a fraction of my power and you are already down."

Jace struggled to sit up more, and his head felt heavy. It didn't matter, though. If Valentine thought Jace was down already, he was going to do everything he could to prove him wrong. "Where's Kristy?" Jace croaked, his throat scratchy and dry.

"Oh, dear, Kriszelda," Valentine said, shaking his head as if he pitied her for being so foolish. "She's a lost cause, isn't she? Such a sad story. She left my side, my people, and look where it got her. Alone, childless, and she isn't even a real Shadowhunter anymore."

"She's more of a Shadowhunter than you've ever been," Jace said shakily.

"Maybe so, but luck never seemed to lend her a helping hand."

"That has nothing to do with her leaving you behind!" Jace cried. "Do you honestly think if she'd stayed in the Circle she'd magically have had a successful marriage and children?"

"You have _no_ idea who you're talking to, boy," Valentine said.

"I'm talking to a maniac," Jace sneered. "I'm talking to a man who murders and kills in the name of religion! You're sick, you're disgusting-"

"You're justifying your weaknesses. That's why you constantly blame me for your failure."

"You gave my away when I was_ ten_!"

"And you're _still_ pining!"

"If you're so noble, then why are you letting your fellow Shadowhunters fight _your_ battle? Die for _your _cause?" Jace snapped. "Your men are fighting your battle right now in Alicante and you think I'm cowardly?"

"This war is far from over and my men need me for the whole thing. Right now I'm only risking less important lives. My weaker men are in Alicante right now, weaker, but still very powerful. When the timing is right, I will invade Alicante with my most valued men and we will overthrow the Clave once and for all."

"You're not nearly as strong as you think you are," Jace said, but he didn't believe his words. He was just good at pretending he did. "If not for your men, you'd be harmless."

A horrible grin formed on Valentine's face. "We'll see about that, won't we?" He took a forceful step towards Jace, who shrank back into the overstuffed pillows and thick blankets.

Valentine reached into his belt and Jace prepared to be struck with a knife or a whip of some sort. Instead he withdrew, to his surprise, a stele. Valentine yanked Jace's lifeless arm forward and pulled the sleeve up. He drew, of all things, a Healing rune.

As the sharp stinging slowly healed his wounds, Valentine unlocked Jace from his chains.

"Stand up, Jonathon."

Jace didn't dare disobey. He slid off the bed and stood facing him.

"Now follow me and don't you dare even think about attempting to escape."

Jace followed Valentine down a narrow hallway, glancing into any rooms with open doors for signs of Kristy, the pack, or Lucian and  
Jocelyn.

He was led upstairs to an empty room on the first floor. Jace knew right away this was where Valentine trained his soldiers.

"By the way, your friends are in the room directly above us on the third floor. I ran out of room in my dungeons, but luckily I had a spare room upstairs."

Jace had no idea how to respond to that, so he pretended it didn't intimidate him.

Valentine withdrew two seraph blades. He said their names and handed one to Jace. He felt a sinking feeling in his chest. Jace had been waiting for this day for a long time, and now he was going to die. What had he been thinking? He'd never be able to fight Valentine. There was just no way he was going to beat him.

"See this?" Valentine said as he removed his weapons belt. "And this?" he said, holding up a small flask. He placed them in the corner of the room.

"What's in that flask?" Jace asked.

"Angel blood. I've created a formula where the blood is less powerful so that adults can now consume it in small dosages. It's not nearly as effective, but it's a start. My point is, I'm disposing of all my weapons except this seraph blade. I request that you do the same."

Jace tossed his belt to the side, only really regretting the loss of his stele.

"You want to prove to me that you're right? That my powers aren't nearly as powerful as I think they are? Okay, fine. We'll duel then. I'd like to see you try to defeat me."

Jace's heart was racing. He'd walked right into this. He was so panicked thought he was going to faint. He needed to relax, immediately.

"First," Valentine announced forcefully, "we bow to each other."

Valentine lowered himself. Jace thought he was going to throw up. He hunched his back, hoping it looked less like a position where he'd throw up and more like a bow.

Jace had to think of something to help himself relax. He thought of Clary...

"Well, then it looks like we're ready to fight now, aren't we?"

That didn't help, though, it only made him more nervous.

"So, I'll allow you the first strike, Jonathon."

_"Close you eyes and pretend you're standing in front of the ocean if you can. The sea breeze is lifting your fair hair and the water feels good in your toes. The rhythm of the waves soothes you."_

"Whenever _you're _ready, Jonathon, go for it."

Jace charged straight at Valentine, then veered to the left in an attempt to get a hit in from the side, but Valentine read him easily and shielded the blow with his own sword.

It wasn't long before Jace was getting beaten so badly that it was all he could to to simply stay conscious. He endured hit after hit from Valentine and didn't even have time to try and get his own hit in. Valentine continued to beat Jace until there was blood running down most of his body.

_Come on. You have to try,_he begged himself. Jace forced his arm to raise his blade and swung, but Valentine smacked it with his own blade so hard that it flung out of Jace's hand and slid across the floor.

"You want to take back what you said?" Valentine snickered, shoving Jace backwards.

Jace crumpled immediately upon hitting the wall. His vision was blurry and three Valentines came running after him. Jace stared longingly at his seraph blade on the other side of the room. In the corner to his left sat his and Valentine's weapon belts, but that was out of reach as well.

Valentine stood over Jace, looking down at him with a defiant smirk. "You see, Jonathon, I always win. I always win."

Jace couldn't bear the thought of giving up, but how could he fight without a weapon? He struggled to his feet, sliding up with his back against the wall for support.

Valentine glowered. "Get back down," he hissed. He swung his blade at Jace, who somehow found the strength to dodge it. His heart was pounding in his ears now, and he needed a weapon. More than anything right now, he needed a weapon. If only...

And then it hit him, like a smack to the face that said, _"You idiot! You've had a weapon on you this entire time. Come on, Wayland!"_

Jace reached into the pocket of his coat and subtly clutched it in his hand, removing the sheath, careful not to touch it himself.

Valentine shoved Jace against the wall again, his hand wrapped around his neck. His other hand held the blade pointed straight at Jace's chest. "You did this," he snarled in a taunting whisper. "You did all of this to yourself."

And Jace found the ounce of strength he had left in him, raised his arm quickly and stabbed Valentine in the neck. "No regrets," Jace hissed fiercely.

First, Valentine registered what had just happened to him. Then, a look of shock contorted his features. A small stream of blood trailed down his neck. He hunched over, his muscles weakening. He fell to the floor, clutching a hand to his throat.

Jace fell to the floor now too, out of exhaustion. He didn't know what to do or say at that moment. He just needed a moment to sit down, catch his breath, and calm his racing heart. Then he'd grab his belt, use his stele to ease his wounds, and find the others. Until then, though, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the dying man before him.

It was a bit depressing to see Valentine like this, Jace had to admit. That wasn't to say Jace didn't feel proud and relieved and would fall to his feet any second now thanking whoever was responsible for reminding him he'd had weapon. But still, such a position of power, so much confidence behind him, and now he was dragging his body across the floor, coughing uncontrollably.

It was Kristy that saved him, once again he owed Kristy his life. The dagger, the small tiny necklace with the poisonous dagger. He'd been looking at it the day he'd returned to the Institute. She'd come in and Jace had shoved it into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing now and he'd forgotten to return it. So Jace technically cheated, since Valentine only wanted them to use one weapon each for this duel. Jace wasn't too proud to admit this, not that he cared.

When Valentine reached the corner of the room, now coughing up blood, Jace's eyes widened in shock. Even in death, Valentine was still in control. He'd grabbed his belt and fumbled for a few seconds before pulling out his stele.

Jace gasped and struggled to his feet. He started to run to the other side of the room, but it was too late. Valentine scribbled a Healing rune onto his arm, and after that a rune onto the wall of the room. Jace did not recognize this rune, nor did he care. He was too preoccupied with what had just happened.

Valentine had always told Jace he'd always let his guard down too soon. He was right after all.

Valentine rolled over onto his back, eyes glazed and staring blankly at the ceiling. He coughed once more, blood gurgling out of his mouth, and then the light went out in his eyes.

He was too late, Jace thought with a rush of relief. The poison had spread by the time the rune was drawn. Kristy hadn't been lying when she'd said the poison was powerful.

After taking some time to catch his breath, Jace slid over to the other corner of the room, purposefully not looking at Valentine's body. He immediately grabbed a stele and allowed his wounds to heal. He put on his belt again and allowed himself to restock, sorting through Valentine's supplies. He grabbed several knives and (probably a dangerous decision but Jace couldn't resist) the flask that contained angel blood. He thought of retrieving Kristy's dagger and the spare stele Valentine had been holding before his death, but didn't know if he could stand looking at and touching Valentine's dead body.

_Dead body._ Jace sat down again, shock coursing through him. Valentine was dead. Valentine was dead. Jace had killed him. Somehow, purely through luck, Jace had managed to survive. His eyes widened as he continued to avoid looking at Valentine. It was so unfair that, even after he finally got what he wanted, Jace still felt horrible. Instead of feeling heroic and strong and brave, he felt frightened, shocked, and sick. What would it take to make him happy?

That was easy, returning to Idris as a Shadowhunter again, and he was going to get that now. He was going to be okay.

"Everything is going to be good again," Jace reassured himself in a gentle whisper, but he still felt sick.

**A/N: This story is going to be wrapping up soon, probably anywhere between two and, at most, five chapters. Review!**


	22. Chapter 21: Haunted

Fallen Gold

Chapter 21: Haunted

_"Watching me. Wanting me. I can feel you pull me down. Fearing you, loving you. I won't let you pull me down." -Evanescense_

Jace was thankful for the stele in his hands. He'd searched nearly every door in the mansion before running into the warlock who'd nearly killed him earlier. The man had showed him to the dungeons, which were underground outside. Jace didn't know where Valentine's keys were, but his stele could unlock it just as easily with a simple Opening rune.

"You again? Oh, no, no, no..." he'd muttered fearfully upon running into Jace in one of the hallways. "He will not be pleased, not pleased at all."

Jace rolled his eyes. "_He _is dead. I killed Valentine. You don't have to be his bitch anymore."

The warlock's jaw dropped. "You...you what?"

"That's right, he's dead and I'm a cold blooded killer. Now I need your help. You-"

"Are you serious? You _killed _Valentine Morgenstern?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm a monster. I'm going to go kill a little girl's puppy next, as soon as you help me," Jace said angrily.

To Jace's complete disgust, the warlock burst into tears. "You have no idea how grateful I am."

Jace scoffed. "Like I did it for you. How many times have you received favors from someone who has tried to kill you?"

"I could kiss you!" he sobbed.

"Ugh! You're pathetic, you know that?"

"My family t-they're going to be safe now. My son..." The warlock's watery eyes stared at something Jace couldn't see, his expression dreamy.

This man was clearly threatened by Valentine. Refuse to aid Valentine and he'll do something way worse than kill you, he'll kill your entire family and let you live. He wondered if he'd be as hysterical as this man if Valentine had threatened to kill Alec or Isabelle or Clary.

"You have to help me," Jace said, in what he hoped was a gentler voice. "I need to know where the dungeons are. It means everything to me that I can rescue those prisoners."

So the warlock led Jace outside behind the mansion. "See if you can stop the fighting going on out front," Jace said. "It's a bit of a loss cause now, isn't?" he added, laughing at his own joke.

The warlock nodded nervously, whispered one final thank you, and left. Jace drew a rune onto the slab of wood fitted into the ground. The lock slipped open and Jace descended down the stone steps into the poorly lit dungeon. He shivered at the thought of being locked down here for even an hour.

There were only a handful of prisoners down here. Jace had no idea what they were down here for and knew he didn't have time to ask. Most of them were so weak and exhausted their minds weren't even alert enough to realize that a boy who was exiled from Idris had set them free. All the prisoners were Shadowhunters, so Jace healed them with his stele. None of them waited around for an explanation. They simply thanked Jace(one woman planted a wet kiss on his cheek) and took off, probably already attempted to erase the horrible experience from their minds.

He went to Luke's cell last, and couldn't help but pity the man's malnourished state.

"Lucian," Jace whispered, shocked.

Luke peered at Jace through the long, matted hair the fell over his face. Jace noticed dried blood crusted all around the man's wrists and looked away.

"Jonathon?" he said hoarsely.

"Jace," he corrected him, "but yes, it's me."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and Jace could tell he really meant it.

Jace didn't like being apologized to, though he wasn't sure what exactly Luke was apologizing for. For having to live with Valentine all those years or for hunting him down after he'd associated with Valentine? Or for calling him Jonathon? Somehow Jace knew it wasn't that last one.

"It wasn't technically your fault," Jace murmured. He drew a rune on the door of Luke's cell and then released him from his chains. "I'd draw a rune on you to heal but..."

"That's okay. There's really only one thing I want you to do. Free Jocelyn."

"Of course," Jace said.

"She's back in the mansion," Luke explained and Jace remembered that Valentine had said Kristy was there as well. He'd said he'd run out of room down here, but that had clearly been a lie. So why was Kristy not down here?

"Valentine's been keeping her there. I know because he took her down here when he first captured her and then took her out shortly after. Unless she's escaped, he's kept her at the mansion the entire time."

"Valentine is dead. I killed him."

Luke rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Now I know I must be dreaming. I wasn't sure at first, but you've confirmed it just now."

"Really, he's dead. How the hell would I be here rescuing you if he was alive? He'd be down here. Nothing gets past him...when he's alive."

"I-I don't believe you."

"I swear on my mother and father's graves. Valentine is _dead_."

Luke jumped in shock and then stared meticulously at Jace as though he'd never seen him before.

Jace threw his hands in the air. "I don't get it. Why aren't you celebrating?"

"No, I'm very happy he's gone. It's just..." Luke was still staring at Jace and the boy managed to figure it out on his own.

_You're afraid of me, because I actually had it in me to kill him._ "I have to find Jocelyn. You get out of here. I'll go in and free her myself."

"No way," Luke said immediately. "I have to help you."

"Help me do what? Valentine's dead! I just have to find the right room."

"His followers are still alive."

"Nothing I can't handle."

"You don't know that."

"I just killed Valentine!" Jace nearly shouted. Shouting it aloud like that frightened him, because it made it real. Jace realized a part of him didn't blame Luke for being afraid of him.

"Never underestimate Valentine, even in death."

"How would you know that? He's never died before!" Jace sneered.

"I have to go with you. I'm never leaving her alone again."

"How very noble of you, but you're in no state to do anything. You can hardly walk. In fact, the safest thing you can do right now is stay here. The Circle doesn't know you're free and if they found out they'd come looking for you. I'll go to the mansion and free Jocelyn. I _promise_ she's safe with me. Besides, I have another friend to find."

Finally, Luke agreed. Jace started to head up the stairs.

"Jonathon," Luke said.

Jace turned around to look at Luke, the evening breeze blowing into the dungeon and pushing his hair forward. "Jace," he corrected him yet again, patiently.

"Jace," Luke whispered. "Be careful."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Like I said, nothing I can't handle." With that, he turned around and headed back toward  
the mansion.

* * *

Jace stepped inside the mansion, the sight vaguely familiar to him. Just before he'd been knocked out, he'd seen the large, beautiful staircase and glass windows. He looked up to see a gold chandelier with candles and translucent beads hanging from it. Jace wondered who'd owned this mansion before Valentine. Surely he had stolen the property from someone else.

There was something about this mansion that sent chills up his spine. He felt as if Valentine, though now dead, was still there, hovering over Jace's shoulder. Laughing at him and waiting for him to fail. Jace could still see him standing right in front of him. He could hear his voice whispering taunts in his ear.

Ignoring this, or at least trying to, Jace carefully made his way up the staircase, eyes darting around warily. He glanced to the left and right, both sides leading to several doors lined against the walls. Jace heaved a sigh. Downstairs were more doors. How was he going to find these two? He regretted leaving Kristy's dagger behind (he had no idea which room held the dreaded sight of Valentine's body). It would've been useful for the Tracking rune.

Completely guessing, Jace went to his left and opened the first door. It was an empty bedroom. The next door was a  
small library. Jace assumed that wasn't the only one in the building. The next door, to Jace's dismay, led to yet another narrow hallway.

"Kristy! Jocelyn! Hello! _Hello?" _Jace cried while running down this hallway, now extremely frustrated.

Jace had gotten lucky with Jocelyn. It seemed like it had taken hours to find her, but it had only taken about half an hour. That half an hour was spent desperately sprinting down corridor after identical corridor, sweat running down Jace's back.

Jace felt as if a timer was ticking with each door he opened. How long would it be until the Circle members outside found out he was in here and he'd murdered Valentine? Sure, Jace had been able to take Valentine down, and Valentine was stronger than any of those people, but how many powerful Shadowhunters could Jace take on at once?

"Hello! Hello, is anybody there? Hello!" Jace cried again. He was worried there were other prisoners here that Valentine hadn't mentioned. If there were, where were they? Jace suddenly had the sick feeling that he'd be spending the rest of his life hopelessly lost in this mansion, searching for prisoners. "Jocelyn? Kristy?"

"Jace?" a very weak, small voice whispered cautiously.

Jace hungrily darted over to the door where the voice came from. He drew an Opening rune on the door and warily opened it, peeking inside for a moment. There he saw Jocelyn, looking thinner than he remembered, sitting on her bed. Her eyes were wide and shining with sadness.

"Is that you, Jace?" she said in the same strained voice.

"Yeah, it's me." Jace stepped inside. "Valentine isn't here...I'll explain later," he said, deciding that if he were to tell her he'd killed Valentine, there wasn't enough time to get through the initial shock she'd obviously experience. "You have to get out of here. Just leave."

Thankfully, Jocelyn could see Jace had no time for her to delay him. She also probably had no reason not to get out of here as fast as possible. When she slid off the bed, Jace saw that Jocelyn was wearing a sleek, elegant, form fitting, purple gown and shiny black high heels. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, with red ringlets falling down her shoulders. Jace thought how much Clary looked like her mother and blinked away the picture in his mind of Clary wearing this dress.

Jocelyn kicked off the heels and said, "Jace, could I..." She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment. Jace thought of  
the days leading up to his trial, where Jocelyn had told the entire story of his upbringing. He remembered how angry he'd been after he refused Valentine's offer to do what Kristy had done, make him a Shadowhunter again. He'd told Clary her mother was a coward and selfish for leaving Idris when she knew Valentine was raising him.

"Could I borrow your stele?" she said.

Jace nodded and handed it to her.

"Thank you," Jocelyn said softly. She drew a Healing rune. Jace saw the bruises and red marks around her wrists and grimaced.

Jocelyn watched her bruises heal, feeling disappointed in herself. This boy had spent his entire life being abused and let down by adults, Valentine, the entire Clave, even the Lightwoods at times, and she'd done nothing but add to this abuse.

"Luke is okay. Behind the mansion is a trap door that leads to the dungeon. Luke is waiting for you there. You better go see him. If you don't he'll be waiting there until he dies."

They both exchanged small smiles.

"Do you know how to get out of here?" Jace asked.

Jocelyn opened her mouth to speak, but shut it abruptly. Beneath he bare feet she felt a small, slight vibration, almost like a tingling sensation beneath her toes.

"Did you...feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Jocelyn shook her head. "Never mind. Been trapped too long I guess. Yes, I can get out of here. Are there any Circle members in here?"

"If there are I haven't bumped into any of them, but you can never be too careful," he said as he handed Jocelyn a knife and blade.

Jocelyn took them with a grateful nod.

"You should probably take this too," Jace said, handing her his stele.

"No, you need it more than I do. I have to go." Jocelyn turned and started running down the hall. She skidded to a stop, turned around, and said, "Thank you, Jace, and I'm sorry." Without waiting for Jace to answer she took off again.

Jace sighed and glanced around the room. Obviously, Valentine had wanted Jocelyn to be comfortable. He hoped she could make it back to Clary in one piece. If something happened to her on the way back he'd have rescued her for nothing.

Stele still in hand, Jace walked over to the dresser where there was a large mirror. In his reflection Jace could see evidence of his exhaustion. His hair was disheveled. Jace placed his stele on the dresser to run both his hands through his hair in an attempt to fix it. Jace's eyes were also wide and glassy, as if in a permanent state of shock. He wanted to just fall onto the bed and go to sleep.

He slid open the window above the dresser and inhaled the outside air. This mansion, so large and stuffy, made him feel trapped and it was nice to take in the outside air.

Then he heard the door creak open. Jace wasted no time in withdrawing a blade and pointing it forward. Standing in the doorway was a Shadowhunter, a young woman with brown eyes that were red around the edges. This woman had just been crying, Jace observed.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly.

"Jace Wayland. Who are you?" Jace answered, backing away from the dresser and toward the middle of the bedroom where there was more space.

"I'm a member of the Circle." She stepped forward so that she was now completely in the room.

"I'm not afraid to kill you."

"Oh, I know that. You killed Valentine." The way she said this, in a friendly sort of way, made Jace nervous.

"I'd do it all over again if I had the chance."

She shook her head pretentiously. "You're so young. You don't know any better. He's not...he wasn't what you thought he was. And now he's...dead." Her expression significantly darkened. "Dead all because some foolish, silly little boy had to come along and ruin every thing."

"Maybe Valentine wasn't so special after all if some foolish kid like me managed to kill him."

The woman withdrew a blade as well. "I'm not afraid to kill _you _either, Jace Wayland."

They both ran straight toward each other, blades pointed. Looking each other in the eyes, gold locked directly onto brown. Just as they were inches away from each other, the ground gave a slight shake.

Jace lost his footing and fell backward. His back smacked into the edge of the bed and his blade fell out of his hand.

The woman stumbled backward as well, her back hitting against the dresser behind her. She grasped the dresser with both hands, managing to stay standing. Her eyes were darting around the room, calculating it in a calm, serious way.

Jace rubbed his back and stood again. He picked up his blade again and looked to his opponent.

She was smirking, as if hiding something from Jace. "I am sorry to have to end this fight, Jace Wayland, but that is exactly what I'm going to do."

Jace was temporarily stunned with confusion. The woman hopped onto the dresser and opened the window.

"What are you doing?" Jace cried angrily as he chased after her. However the woman stepped onto the edge of the window and jumped. She was gone. Jace made it to the window and looked out, but it was too dark to see her. This floor was too high up for her to make it the ground safely, so she was hidden somewhere in the trees that surrounded the window. Jace shut the window, locked it, and went to retrieve his stele from its place on the dresser.

It was gone. Jace swore furiously, knocking all the items off the dresser in a futile attempt to find his stele hidden under them. The woman had to have taken the stele after they had both fallen...and where had that shaking come from anyway? Jocelyn had asked Jace if he'd felt something. Was that something the same shaking he'd felt just now?

And that's when Jace heard it. A low, deep, rumbling that sounded like it was coming from the very core of Earth itself. His eyes darted around fearfully and then he stumbled forward. Regaining his footing, he ran over to the window and looked outside.

The fight was still going on of course. The people outside didn't appear to be feeling this vibration at all. They  
didn't trip or look around in confusion. Whatever was happening, it was only going inside this mansion. Although Jace could simply walk out the front door to solve this problem (that is if he could find it), he felt very trapped for he simply couldn't leave without saving Kristy. The floor shook again, this time more violently. Jace stumbled forward again, baffled by what was going on, and then panic took over as he figured it out. That woman must have known what was happening if she'd taken off right after. The rune Valentine had drawn, it suddenly made sense. It was a rune used to cause some sort of earthquake in here.

Jace didn't know how long he had, but the mansion was going to collapse.

**A/N: Nearly there now! It's the beginning of the end Lol. Please review...and yes, Ambur. You guessed correctly what the rune was going to do. **


	23. Chapter 22: Let Go

Fallen Gold

Chapter 22: Let Go

_"It's just your doubt that binds you. Just drop those thoughts behind you now. Change your mind. Let go too soon." The All-American Rej_ects

Panic. Pure, paralyzing panic surged through Jace and made his legs give way...or maybe that was the violent shaking of the floor. Jace tumbled forward again as the dresser also fell to the floor. Its contents spilled across the bedroom. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room, sliding off course every so often.

The rumbling sounded like a deep, angry growl. Jace felt as if he was in a dream; it was the only way he could explain the fact that the floor was shaking violently under his feet and the furniture was sliding across it. There was just no way Valentine had done this with a stele! Jace cursed himself for so carelessly leaving his stele on that dresser for that beastly woman to take. Though, even if he had his stele, he had no idea what kind of rune could be drawn to stop this. While thinking this and suffering from a new wave of fear, Jace heard a sound from above him that he could not describe with words. He looked up and saw deep fissures cracking through the ceiling like a curvy road on a map.

Yet again, panic that rendered him immobile. But he had to move. He had to carry on. For Kristy's sake. Jace ran down the narrow hallway, reluctantly relieving the feeling of spending the remainder of his life running down identical corridors looking for someone hopelessly lost. Except this time the feeling was much more real. If he didn't find Kristy soon, he surely would be spending the short remainder of his life doing this.

"KRISTY! KRISTY WHERE ARE YOU?" Jace screamed over the sounds of the contents of the mansion crashing into walls and onto the floor. He opened the nearest door and found that it led to the entrance hall. In front of him was the set of stairs leading to the front door. Jace stared down those stairs longingly.

As he stayed standing still, a large piece of the ceiling came flying down and landed on Jace's shoulder. He grunted in pain, and fell to his knees once more. He rubbed the sore spot, and realized his arm was jutting out at an odd angle. Jace gritted his teeth and tried to suppress his rage, but it was no use. He swore colorfully, thinking, _now my arm is completely useless._

For a brief, but very real moment, Jace thought only of dashing down those stairs and entering the safety (though perhaps not quite so safe if the fight was still going on, but at that moment Jace wasn't even remembering the fight) of the outside world. He even took a few steps toward the staircase, not caring that Kristy was trapped somewhere in here, only thinking of reuniting with Clary, of returning to Alicante a hero, of being accepted into the Clave again...

"I can't," Jace whispered bitterly. "I just can't. I-"

_CRASH._

Jace jumped a full foot in the air and stared down in shock. The chandelier had just snapped off the ceiling and fell in pieces on the ground, a mess of broken gold in the center and candles rolling away from it. Jace stared at the site in awe before realizing time was not on his side. Though he knew it wouldn't make the pain go away, Jace continued rubbing his injured shoulder and ran down the corridor the other way.

Pieces of the once magnificent ceiling were falling, sometimes in large, dangerous chunks Jace had to dodge and sometimes in crumbled pebble-like bits. "Kristy!" Jace yelled again, this time quite desperate. "Kristy! Where are you?"

And then he heard a very faint, muffled cry from across the hall.

"Kristy?"

The cry was uttered again. This time he could make out the word.

_"Jace," _the voice said faintly.

"Kristy! Kristy, is that you?"

_"Go."_

"Go? What...?" Jace dashed down the hallway, opening several doors before he found the right one.

And there she was. Against the wall on the other side of the room sat the crumpled figure of Kristy; back bent over and blond hair hanging over her face in a dirty, damp mess. Both her wrists were chained to the wall with manacles. She was hardly moving. Was she even alive? He couldn't even see her breathing. _But she just spoke to me!_Jace thought helplessly.

"Kristy! Kristy, please don't be dead!" Jace shouted desperately, but she didn't move. He pounded across the room and fell to his knees in front of her. "Kristy, you've_ got _to get up," he ordered, giving her shoulders a rough shake. Jace heard her moan faintly, barely audible under her matted hair, but she didn't move. "Come on, Kristy. We have to go now! Just get up! Do you hear me? Get up before I drag you out of here!"

Jace grabbed a handful of Kristy's hair and tugged her head up so that she was now looking at him. Her eyes were glazed and her face streaked with blood. She hardly seemed to register Jace being there. _What did Valentine do to you?_

"Jace," she whispered hoarsely.

"Kristy, where are the keys to your chains?" Jace said hastily.

Kristy didn't answer, but fixed her weak gaze on a point on the other side of the room. Jace turned and saw a set of keys hanging on the wall. He wasted no time in fetching them and then guessing which key unlocked her.

"Get yourself out of here. I can't get up," Kristy said as Jace began inserting each key. It was more a plea than it was an order and that was what made Jace understand that this-Jace running out of here and saving himself-was her dying wish. Or at least she_ thought _it was her dying wish. Jace wasn't about to let her give up so easily.

"Hell no," Jace said through gritted teeth, finally picking the right key and setting her free. "Quit being a wimp and get up. This whole place is about to collapse and I didn't run around it looking for you for you to tell me to leave! Now before I hurt you g_et up!"_

"I can't," Kristy said, choking on a sob. "It hurts."

"What hurts?" Jace said.

"...Everything," Kristy said, still sitting on the ground.

Jace immediately eliminated the option of carrying her. His shoulder was still throbbing painfully. He'd probably drop her. This killed Jace because he knew he'd be able to carry her out of there had his shoulder been in better condition. "Kristy, if you don't try to get up right now I'm going to just stay here with you and I'll die and it'll be all your fault!" Jace said furiously.

That had clearly been the wrong thing to say. For now Kristy went into a state of shock. She writhed slowly from side to side and began hyperventilating. "But I-I can't!" she managed to to say. "I c-can't get up! It hurts! It hurts!" Her eyes were darting around the room wildly. It was as if Jace wasn't even there anymore.

Jace grabbed both of her wrists and held her in place. "Okay, okay. I'm not going to do that," he reassured her quickly. He knew he had to try a new tactic. Brute force didn't seem to be working. He decided to try connecting with her on a deeper level. _Whatever that means, _Jace thought dryly. He looked into her eyes. "You have to try. You owe it to yourself to get up and get out, okay?"

"No," she said through trembling lips. "No, I don't."

Jace's shortened temper quickly ran out. "You know what? You're right. Screw you. For my sake then. Please, Kristy, I _need_ you. I really do. If not for you then for me. _Please?"_

_"Just leave!"_she screamed shrilly, burying her face in her arms and refusing to look at Jace.

The ground gave another violent shake. It seemed the building was now going to start collapsing at a fast rate. Jace screamed and fell over as the ceiling fell around them in large chunks. Kristy let out a shrill yelp. Jace crawled across the vibrating floor and huddled next to Kristy, who looked as if she was about to pass out. A minute later the shaking lightened up again but Kristy was still in a panic. Jace was beginning to lose hope when he remembered something Kristy had told him. Desperate and short on time, he decided to give it a shot.

"Relax, Kristy. You need to relax. Close your eyes and think. Imagine you're standing in front of the ocean. The breeze feels good on your skin and it lifts your hair off your shoulders. The rhythm of the waves calms you down."

Kristy was still shaking ever so slightly but slowly, her breathing began to calm down. She looked at Jace and eventually her lip curled upward in the faintest of smiles.

Jace would take it.

"Okay, good. Let's go now. We're running out of time." Jace sprung to his feet and held out a hand to help Kristy up.

She stared at him, hesitated, and then grabbed his hand. Kristy had to lean on his unharmed shoulder for support now, because she could hardly stand on her own. But Jace wasn't about to stop and dwell over this. He did his best to support her, though he was tired and her weight was a lot for him to carry at that moment. Jace vaguely remembered how to get out of the mansion and after a few wrong turns they found the main staircase and stumbled out of the mansion.

Jace and Kristy shoved the front door open and rolled onto the grass in a mess of blood, sweat, and exhaustion.

"We're okay," Jace breathed, having a difficult time believing this to be true. He looked to Kristy. She was lying on her stomach, legs sprawled out at awkward angles, tugging handfuls of her hair and crying in choked, breathy gasps.

"Kristy, get up," Jace said, afraid she'd pull her hair out. Kristy rolled over, wiped her tears on the back of her hand, and stared at the mansion with an open mouth.

The building was experiencing its last moments standing. The walls fell into each other and the roof dropped. The mansion collapsed, now nothing but rubble, debris, and crushed objects.

_Valentine's body is in that building, _Jace thought with a shudder as he tried not to picture what the body might look like now. He turned his face away and looked behind him. He'd almost forgotten about the fight that had been going on and was puzzled to see that there were no Circle or pack members here anymore.

"Where'd everyone go?"

"Who?" Kristy asked weakly, still disoriented. She turned around as well.

"There was a battle going on...and Jocelyn and Luke." Jace's voice trailed off. He scrambled to his feet and ran around the rubble of the mansion and down the trap door on the other side. Luke and Jocelyn were not down there though.

"Jace," Kristy, who'd followed him out of a need to not be alone, said from above the ground, "what are you doing down there?"

"Looking for Jocelyn and Luke," Jace said as he came back upstairs.

"You find them?"

"Yeah, here they are," Jace said sarcastically, gesturing to an empty space next to him.

Kristy shook her head, as if still in the state she was in when she was trapped in the mansion. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing else we can do but head back to Alicante." Kristy's eyes were still wide with shock. Jace was concerned. It seemed none of her was really here. "Kristy, are you-"

"Right," Kristy said, cutting him off sharply. "To Alicante."

**A/N: Hope you review and in case you were wondering, yes, Jace did dislocate his shoulder during the mansion collapse, but I didn't really go into detail about it because I don't know much about injuries.**


	24. Chapter 23: Amazing

**A/N: Wow. I am really, really, really, really sorry about this. Basically I have been suffering from horrible writer's block and I was also a little depressed (no big deal, just stupid crap) and had absolutely no will to write due to a lousy combination of these two things. But I swore up and down I'd finish this story no matter what because I'm pretty much done with it anyway and I can't post anything new until I finish this! Feel free to flame this chapter (which I tried my best not to screw up but once again, writer's block) because of my terrible commitment.**

Fallen Gold

Chapter 23: Amazing

_"It's amazing. With the blink of an eye you finally see the light. It's amazing. That when the moment arrives you know that you'll be alright." - Aerosmith_

"You sure you're okay to make this journey?" Jace asked skeptically.

Kristy shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

Jace still very much wanted to ask her what had happened in in the mansion, but decided he was better off not bringing it up. He wasn't sure he'd be able to calm her down if she went off again. So they set off back down the road to Alicante. Jace tried to ignore the dead bodies, both of Luke's pack and members of the Circle, scattered about. He focused his mind on other things, getting lost in thoughts of the shock of actually murdering Valentine, the wonder at what he'd done to Kristy, the fear of returning to the Clave and hearing what they had to say, the electricity he'd feel when his lips finally met Clary's once more...

Kristy screamed. Jace jumped and whirled around, believing she'd lost it again. "What? What is it?" he cried, and suddenly realized she wasn't breaking down. She was jumping away from a werewolf that just leaped out of the bushes. Jace was so exhausted from the physical and emotional stress he'd just been through that it took him much longer than usual to react. "It's alright, Kirsty!" Jace yelled as he withdrew a blade, even though he had no way of knowing for sure if it was.

Jace didn't blame Kristy for being horrified. The werewolf was creeping closer to them, baring his teeth and snarling. Jace instinctively backed away along with Kristy. Then a spark of familiarity flickered inside of him. Narrowing his eyes and getting a good look at the werewolf, he recognized him.

"Luke?" he gasped.

At that same moment, the creature seemed to recognize Jace as well. Right before their eyes, Luke returned to his original form. He looked as beaten and exhausted as they were. Rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly, he murmured, "Sorry. We've been fighting off the Circle up until they surrendered. Jocelyn and I have been resting and hiding in the bushes over there. When we saw the mansion crumbling we just had to wait and make sure Valentine wasn't going to come out and that you were okay." Luke indicated the spot with a nod of his head. "I've just been keeping guard for us."

"Which is silly, but he wouldn't let me keep guard for him," Jocelyn said as she climbed out of their hiding spot. "I'm the one who can draw runes to heal me!"

"They surrendered?"

"Yes, and we banished them from Idris."

"Where's the rest of the pack?"

"We had the rest of the pack leave immediately after the Circle surrendered for their own safety. They're fine...what's left of them, that is."

Jace bit his lip anxiously. "You mean...?"

"Many are dead. Ash is dead," Luke said without any emotion, "so Anna is my second in command now. She asked to retrieve Valentine's body...she wanted to do it in honor of Ash." Luke inhaled shakily. "No use in all of us staying here any longer. Let's go."

* * *

To the shock of the city of Alicante, Jace, Luke, Jocelyn, and Kristy arrived, exhausted and beaten. Scattered whispers were spreading through the crowd. Jace stayed close to the others, expecting to be attacked at any given moment. His eyes darted through the crowd anxiously, searching the crowd for a short, slender red head. The four of them stood awkwardly at the entrance to the city, afraid to move and frozen with nerves.

"Well, is it true?"said an elderly Shadowhunter who stood at the front of the crowd, hands on her hips. Jace recognized her as Maple Clearwater, a woman fairly famous simply because of her age in regards to the expected life span of Shadowhunters.

"Is what true?" Jocelyn asked as Jace was too dazed to respond.

"Did you _murder _Valentine, young man?" she said, fixing misty gray eyes directly onto Jace.

The boy only heard one word. "M-murder?"

"I don't know. I'm asking _you_."

Jace had to look away from those shiny eyes. He saw then that none of the Shadowhunters were holding weapons and that witchlight was lit festively throughout the town square. The houses were no longer locked, in fact many doors were wide open, welcoming guests. Tables sat in the center of the town square, with long white table clothes and food.

"After much confusion we managed to work out the true story. A pack of werewolves came into the city and told us the Circle surrendered and were no longer in Idris and that Valentine died and you," she looked to Jace here, "killed him."

"I..." Jace had no idea what to say. Why was she so angry with him? Because he wasn't permitted to be here in Alicante? Because he was too young to kill Valentine? Because he'd been raised by Valentine and she believed him to be just as evil as he was? No matter how heroic killing Valentine could sound, maybe the woman couldn't shake off all those thoughts. No matter what, the war was over. Wasn't this a good thing? That was all that counted now.

"Valentine is dead. Jace killed him," Jocelyn confirmed. Jace heard several people draw sharp breaths, a horribly tense air descended amoung the crowd.

"He did?" whispered a man nervously.

Jace swallowed before saying, "It's true."

There it was, the official truth that dealed the deal. A general uproar broke out, cries of shock, joy, and confusion. Jace ducked out and searched for Clary. He didn't know if he would be cleared and permitted to be a Shadowhunter or if this would only get him into more trouble. All he knew was that he wanted to see Clary and tell her that Luke and Jocelyn were okay.

_"Jace!"_

Jace whirled around. _"Clary?"_

Clary threw herself into his embrace, whimpering slightly.

"They're okay," Jace said immediately. "Luke and Jocelyn are okay."

Jace felt the tension in her muscles release with relief. "Jace, d-did you really-"

"I did," he interrupted, his tone flat.

Clary looked into his eyes, and Jace was terrified he'd see her look at him like he was a murderer, a heartless, blood thirsty killer. But he was relieved to see the green of her eyes shine in admiration. "Well then, Jace Wayland, you really did do it, didn't you? You proved everyone wrong. We all doubted you." She placed her hand on his chest, just under his throat, and began to stroke him gently.

Jace grinned. "Wasn't such a stupid plan all along then, was it?"

Clary smirked. "No, it was incredibly stupid. _Beyond_ stupid, but it worked."

Jace playfully tugged a strand of Clary's hair. "Well, thank the Angel for that."

* * *

The next few hours went by in a blur. Jace found himself shaking hands with nearly every Shadowhunter in Alicante. Many of the women planted rather wet kisses on his cheek, and younger girls were either flirting or declaring their love for him. To Jace's dismay, one young woman even proposed to him, and in front of Clary.

"Don't you think he's a bit young for you?" Clary had said with her hands on her hips and an expression so sour Jace couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The crowd was also roaring with laughter. The party was certain to go on all night. Peace with the Downworlders at last, who were given proof that Valentine was dead after Anna brought back his remains. However, the party was cut short for Jace.

At first all was going well. Jace had been greeting yet another lame Shadowhunter who was thanking him (Jace didn't want to be thanked or glorified. He didn't even feel as if he deserved such treatment. All he wanted was to be accepted into Idris again) he heard Isabelle shout his name. Peering into the crowd, Jace saw Isabelle and Alec racing over to greet him.

"I can't believe it!" Isabelle cried, sounding both horrified and jubilant. "I just_ don't _believe it!"

"We're glad you're okay," Alec murmured.

"What happened to Sebastion?" Clary asked immediately.

"Dead. Magnus killed him," Alec said and Clary saw he was surprised at the amount of pride he'd felt saying that. "Max and Hodge, our parents, everyone is okay now."

Jace felt a rush of joy that made him happier than he'd been in days. It was then that he noticed Kristy sitting at one of the long tables alone with a glum expression, chin resting on her hands. Her deep brown eyes, usually shining with warmth and life, were as dead as they were when Jace had rescued her from Valentine's mansion.

Maybe not everyone was okay.

"I'll be right back," Jace said, sliding off his chair and walking toward Kristy. The young woman looked up at him, but didn't even manage a smile.

"You really know how to have a good time," Jace said.

"I don't feel well," Kristy said, expression blank.

"You didn't look well back in the mansion either. You don't have to tell me exactly what happened, but tell me Kristy, what did he do to you?"

Kristy didn't look at him as she said, "He wanted me to tell him every thing I knew about you. He wanted to know exactly what you'd been doing since you were exiled from Idris. When I refused to tell him he began to beat me."

Jace wanted to hit her. "But why didn't you just tell him? It's not like I'd spent the past few months plotting his murder!"

"I told him you hadn't done much, but he wanted to know some deep dark secret. What I'd told him wasn't good enough. So he had a warlock mess with my head, had me confront all my most miserable memories and my deepest insecurities."

_That lousy warlock I let go, _Jace thought bitterly. "So Richard-"

"Resigned," Kristy finished before Jace could even ask. "Resigned from the Clave and confessed his love to me yet again. Not much more than an hour ago actually. I told him I didn't love him."

"You don't, right?"

Kristy shook her head. "Even if I did, I wouldn't go with him. I don't want to be the other woman. It wouldn't be fair to those children, or her of course."

Jace couldn't find the right words to express how much respect he'd suddenly gained for her after hearing this. A woman lonely and desperate enough would've taken off with Richard even if she hadn't loved him, but Kristy always somehow managed to stand strong. Jace wished he could do something for her. She seemed so lonely. "You'll be okay, right?"

Kristy nodded sadly. "I think so." She looked him in the eyes. "I'm really proud of you, Jace."

Jace blinked in surprise. "For what?"

"For taking down Valentine and preventing a war of course!" Kristy exclaimed.

At that moment Jace realized there _was_ something he could do for Kristy. He reached into his belt and handed a tiny flask with a deep red liquid over to Kristy. "Take this, Kristy. I think it'll help."

Kristy looked at him curiously. "Help with what?"

"Do you still want to have a baby?"

"What?...Well, of course." Then it dawned on her. "Oh, Jace, do you think?"

He shrugged. "It's worth a try, right?"

When all was said and done, Jace was officially reinstated into the Clave and no longer exiled from Idris. He was also given an honorable recognition from the Clave for special services. A new Inquisitor was hired and the Consul had actually tried to have Jace exiled again for trespassing Idris when he'd been banished. To say Jace was shocked by this was an understatement. None of it mattered, though, because Jace was finally going to have his old life back.

* * *

Jace returned to the Institute that evening to settle himself back into his old room. He rested on his bed and closed his eyes, preparing to drift off to sleep...

A knock on the door woke him a few hours later. Jace was about to express his annoyance in what he thought was a perfectly offending way when he heard Clary say, "It's me."

"Come in," he mumbled, refusing to move.

As she entered his heart fluttered and his mind flashed. He remembered the day he met her, when his whole life was such a mess, and then how he wasn't able to let her go, how she carried him through the months to follow. His life was still a complete mess, but somehow she made him realize it was all going to be okay in the end. Somehow she made him find strength to follow through.

"They're still cleaning up?" Jace asked.

"We're done. There were a lot of us so it was a fast clean up. No one cares that you've slept through it."

Jace scoffed. "I'd like to see someone dare to say something."

The Institute had been quite a mess when the group had returned home. After the break in and the fight with Sebastion the kitchen was ruined as well as a few other rooms. Of course Magnus was no where to be found so the Lightwoods, Clary, Kristy, and Hodge were left to clean it themselves.

"You're not mad at them, right? The Lightwoods I mean."

Jace bit his lip. He was never really mad at Alec and Isabelle in the first place and of course he had no reason to be angry with Max. Maryse and Robert had given their apologies and, while he was still bitter, he'd accepted. After all, Jace knew deep down he still needed parents and Maryse and Robert had always loved him.

"No, not really. I think we're all good again."

Clary smiled. "Good."

"So what now? You going to go home?"

"I don't even know which home is my real home anymore," Clary said, frowning. She paused, lost in thought for a moment. Then she walked over to Jace and put her arms around him. "I just know that when I'm with you...nothing can go wrong."

Jace managed to swallow his laugh. "Clary, when you're with me anything and everything goes wrong."

Clary giggled. "True, but it's different when I'm with you."

They stood in silence for a moment, holding each other, breathing in a single, steady rhythm. Finally, Clary said, "I guess you're glad it's all over now, aren't you? You must be glad everything is back to normal, or as normal as it can get at least."

Jace sighed. "I feel like I've been carrying an exceptionally large weight on my shoulders and it was finally taken off, but you know if I could go back in time and stop it from happening all over again I wouldn't, right?"

"Why not?"

He smirked. "I think you know why."

"I can take a guess."

Clary wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft, delicate kiss on his lips. Neither one could understand why they'd been brought together under the strangest of circumstances, but they also were not about to question it. Because Clary had said it right for both of them. When together, nothing could go wrong. As long as they were together, they were home.

**A/N: Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait due to writer's block. This is not good considering this is the second story I've written where right before the end I was diagnosed with a miserable case of it. However, I will be posting an epilogue and I promise not to make the wait nearly as long. **


	25. Epilogue: Sunshine

Fallen Gold 

_Epilogue: Sunshine_

_"Everyday we wait if it takes too long. So tell me something new. Forget about the sunshine when it's gone." - The All-American Rejects_

_Many months after Valentine's death_

When Kristy found Jace leaning against the Institute's balcony, she saw that his thoughts were clearly troubling him. He was looking out over the city. It was a gray, cloudy day; the sun nowhere to be seen. It had been raining all morning and only just recently had it stopped. Wind lifted his fair hair, revealing a very weary expression set in the boy's youthful face, a face that was definitely too young to see the things he'd seen. His brow was furrowed and a slight frown was formed.

"Trying to move traffic with your mind?" Kristy joked, trying to lighten the dreary, gray mood.

Jace, who hadn't even head her step outside, turned to face her. His expression softened only slightly. "Oh, you're here," he said. He had not seen Kristy since that day in Alicante. After he'd killed Valentine, Jace, Clary, and the Lightwoods stayed in Idris for some time while Kristy immediately returned to New York.

"I know what's eating you, Jace, but it shouldn't. You have everything you need now. Your family, Clary, you're a Shadowhunter again, you're back at the Institute. I don't think you should be so depressed, but at the same time I completely understand. You're stuck on all those terrible things Valentine did to you. You're upset."

Jace laughed darkly. "_Upset?_ I'm _furious. _That bastard-"

Kristy held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm the first to tell you that nothing helps you unleash stifled anger better than a good enemy bashing, but I don't have time to hear it right now. I just came up here to thank you, Jace."

Jace looked puzzled. "Thank me? Why?" He figured, if anything, Jace should be thanking her. Kristy gave him his runes back. If it weren't for her small, seemingly useless dagger, he would have never been able to kill Valentine.

Tears prickled Kristy's eyes. "Jace, I'm pregnant."

Jace raised his eyebrows to express his surprise. He studied Kristy's stomach more closely. She laughed and removed the heavy brown coat she'd been wearing to keep warm in the rain. Sure enough, underneath her light pink sweater Jace saw the sure sign of pregnancy, her stomach was slightly swelled. To Jace's surprise, it was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. That round little bulge was proof that Kristy would soon be bringing one more life to this world.

"Wow...uh, congratulations."

"The angel blood worked and it's all thanks to you. I've never made it past twelve weeks without miscarrying! Now I'm fifteen weeks in and, well, the doctor says I'm as healthy as I ever will be! It's a miracle! I'm having a girl! Can you believe it? A little baby girl! I'm going to name her Irene, after my mother."

"...How did you-"

"Get pregnant? I found a suitable sperm donor and it worked on my first try. The doctors called it extremely good luck. I called it drinking angel blood right before the procedure."

"That's great," Jace said, unable to express any real emotion. After months of suppressing his feelings, he just wasn't able to sound excited.

"Great? It's the best thing that's ever happened to me! I was praying for twins but I'll take it!" Kristy added with a laugh. "Look, Jace," she said, liftingher shirt a little, revealing round, smooth skin. "This is your doing. I owe it all to you." She gently rubbed her stomach, staring at it with nothing less than adoration.

And for some reason, it took until that moment, where Kristy looked as if nothing had ever gone wrong before in her entire life, for it to click in Jace. It was admirable, really, for her to be so joyful despite so much going wrong in her life. And he began to wonder, could he ever be that happy? Was he ever that happy? Maybe when he was a child.

It didn't matter he realized. It didn't matter that he didn't even really feel like a hero after defeating Valentine. That was just luck. It didn't matter that he didn't feel special for giving Kristy the angel blood. It was luck that he spotted it before leaving. That was just him returning the favor of her giving him what he thought was the most important thing in the world. It didn't matter that Jace didn't feel special for preventing the war from spreading in Idris or for giving Kristy her child. All that mattered now was the look on her face at that moment. It gave Jace hope. If Kristy could suffer as she had in life and still find bliss at the end of the day, then so could Jace.

"Come inside, will you? Clary wants to see you."

Jace reflexively smiled at the mention of her name. "Couldn't she come out here herself?"

Kristy returned the smile. "She didn't want to disturb you. She knows you've been upset lately."

Jace looked out over the balcony again. The gray clouds were just beginning to part, and the smallest hint of sunshine was peeking through. "You know what? I feel better already."

The End.

* * *

**A/N: So glad to finally finish this story that was such a pleasure to write! Especially because it was my first Mortal Instruments project. A HUGE thank you to those of you who have stuck with me since the beginning way back when this fic began. I can't thank you guys enough. I can't wait to start posting my next fic (there are details about it on my profile). I already started writing it and I'm about five chapters in (five loosely written chapters that desperately need editing lol). I hope you all check it out when I finally get around to posting it.!**

**- paper-fl0wers**


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